|
KINGS of EPEIROS. Pyrrhos. 297-272 BC. AR Tetradrachm (29mm, 16.20 g, 4h). Lokroi Epizephyrioi mint. Struck circa 278-275 BC. Head of Zeus of Dodona left, wearing oak wreath; [A below] / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠYPPOY, Dione, draped and wearing polos, seated left on high backed throne, holding staff in right hand and lifting her veil with her left. Babelon, Roi, Type B/c; HGC 3, 261; Basel 211 (same obv. die); Bement 972; Boston MFA 944 = Warren 735; Virzi Sale 476 (same dies); Hess-Leu 11, lot 192 (same rev. die); Munzen und Medaillen AG 53, lot 70 = Leu 2, lot 181 = G. Hirsch 19, lot 347 (same dies); NAC 1, lot 61 (same rev. die). Toned, minor flan crack, trace deposits, areas of roughness, scratches. VF. Rare.
From the Pythagoras Collection. Ex Bourgey (2 April 2001), lot 156.
A majestic example of early Hellenistic artwork, as noted by G.K. Jenkins: "It is at once apparent that in one important respect Pyrrhos' practice is closely akin to that of the Macedonian kings of this time, in that nowhere does his portrait appear. Much as we may regret this, the splendid and exuberant types of Pyrrhos' Lokrian coins go far to compensate for it. The tetradrachm has for the obverse the head of Dodonean Zeus, whose sanctuary lay in Pyrrhos' homeland; this head, crowned with oak leaves and with restless flowing hair and beard, makes a strong contrast with the restrained and classical head of the same god minted for Alexander of Epeiros at Tarentum, and even with the more concentrated style of Antigonos Doson's Poseidon, but the Pyrrhos coin is masterly in its different way. Its exciting and dynamic quality is well matched by the calm majesty of the reverse type, Dione seated on a high-backed throne and swathed in the complex drapery so typical of Hellenistic sculpture.... The impressive style of these coins is quite different from anything we might have expected at an Italian mint at this time, and it may well be that the artist responsible was not a local one, but may have come from mainland Greece or Macedonia." (G.K. Jenkins, Ancient Greek Coins [New York: Putnam, 1972], pp. 247-8.)
The final winners of all Triton XXVI lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 10-11 January 2023.
Triton XXVI – Session One – Lots 1-334 will be held Tuesday morning, 10 January 2023 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
|
