Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 124 23 Jun 2021
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Naxos.
Drachm circa 460, AR 4.30 g. Head of Dionysus right, wearing ivy-wreath, hair tied up with a knot at the nape of his neck. Rev. N – A – XI – ON Naked, bearded Silenus with pointed ears, ruffled hair and long tail, facing squatting, his r. leg folded to the side and l. raised. He faces left towards cantharus in his raised r. hand, while the l. rests on his knee, his tail showing behind his l. leg. Rizzo pl. 28.13 (these dies). Jameson 674 (this coin). Gillet 484 (these dies). AMB 385 (this coin). Cahn 55.8 (this coin).
Very rare and among the finest specimens known. A magnificent issue of superb style struck
on a very broad flan and complete. Wonderful old cabinet tone and extremely fine
Ex Sambon-Canessa 18 November 1907, Martinetti and Nervegna, 716 and NAC 13, 1998, formerly exhibited at Antike Museum Basel, 385 and Nomos 3, 2011, 20 sales. From the Jameson, Spina and A.D.M. collections.
These dies, created in c. 460 B.C. for tetradrachms and drachms in Sicilian Naxos, coinciding with the return of the Naxians to their parent city after they were forcefully moved to Leontinoi in 476 B.C. by the tyrant Hieron of Syracuse, represent some of the most admired examples of coin art. Along with the almost contemporary specimens from Katana and Aetna, these issues, from the formative years of classical period, constitute an artistic microcosm that flourished for an extremely short time in Eastern Sicily making the extant specimens authentic masterpieces of the greatest rarity. In particular, in Naxos, only one pair of accomplished dies is known each for the tetradrachm and the drachm, being in the subsequent years three obverse and three reverse dies engraved by lesser artists imitating the work of the originator of the design. This coin was therefore struck from the important pair of dies (Cahn's obverse 40 and reverse 46) which many scholars, including Kraay, consider to have been cut by the artist responsible for the tetradrachm (Cahn 54). Furthermore, though the artist did not sign his dies, the similarity of his work to that of the celebrated tetradrachm of Aetna now in Brussels has convinced many scholars that the artists are one and the same, the so-called "Aetna Master". The main features of archaic art have mostly vanished on this coin, leaving us with an early classical masterpiece that retains some archaic elements within a classical framework. Gone is the frontal eye so strongly associated with archaic art, but retained is an arching eyebrow, a faint 'archaic smile' and a general rigidity of design. Most importantly, the proportions are fairly naturalistic, which helps to distinguish it from products of the archaic period.
Drachm circa 460, AR 4.30 g. Head of Dionysus right, wearing ivy-wreath, hair tied up with a knot at the nape of his neck. Rev. N – A – XI – ON Naked, bearded Silenus with pointed ears, ruffled hair and long tail, facing squatting, his r. leg folded to the side and l. raised. He faces left towards cantharus in his raised r. hand, while the l. rests on his knee, his tail showing behind his l. leg. Rizzo pl. 28.13 (these dies). Jameson 674 (this coin). Gillet 484 (these dies). AMB 385 (this coin). Cahn 55.8 (this coin).
Very rare and among the finest specimens known. A magnificent issue of superb style struck
on a very broad flan and complete. Wonderful old cabinet tone and extremely fine
Ex Sambon-Canessa 18 November 1907, Martinetti and Nervegna, 716 and NAC 13, 1998, formerly exhibited at Antike Museum Basel, 385 and Nomos 3, 2011, 20 sales. From the Jameson, Spina and A.D.M. collections.
These dies, created in c. 460 B.C. for tetradrachms and drachms in Sicilian Naxos, coinciding with the return of the Naxians to their parent city after they were forcefully moved to Leontinoi in 476 B.C. by the tyrant Hieron of Syracuse, represent some of the most admired examples of coin art. Along with the almost contemporary specimens from Katana and Aetna, these issues, from the formative years of classical period, constitute an artistic microcosm that flourished for an extremely short time in Eastern Sicily making the extant specimens authentic masterpieces of the greatest rarity. In particular, in Naxos, only one pair of accomplished dies is known each for the tetradrachm and the drachm, being in the subsequent years three obverse and three reverse dies engraved by lesser artists imitating the work of the originator of the design. This coin was therefore struck from the important pair of dies (Cahn's obverse 40 and reverse 46) which many scholars, including Kraay, consider to have been cut by the artist responsible for the tetradrachm (Cahn 54). Furthermore, though the artist did not sign his dies, the similarity of his work to that of the celebrated tetradrachm of Aetna now in Brussels has convinced many scholars that the artists are one and the same, the so-called "Aetna Master". The main features of archaic art have mostly vanished on this coin, leaving us with an early classical masterpiece that retains some archaic elements within a classical framework. Gone is the frontal eye so strongly associated with archaic art, but retained is an arching eyebrow, a faint 'archaic smile' and a general rigidity of design. Most importantly, the proportions are fairly naturalistic, which helps to distinguish it from products of the archaic period.