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NYINC Signature Sale 3106 17-18 Jan 2023
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Ancients
CRETE. Cnossus. Ca. 2nd-1st centuries BC. AR tetradrachm (30mm, 14.08 gm, 12h). NGC (photo-certificate) Choice VF 4/5 - 2/5, edge marks, scratches, overstruck. ΠΟΛ-ΧΟΣ, laureate head of Apollo left; beaded border / KNΩ-I-NΩ-Σ, circular Labyrinth. Svoronos 96. BMC 41. An extremely rare example of this later type of labyrinth, as opposed to the more common square construction. Attractive cabinet toning in the recesses highlights the devices.
Ex Collection of a Gentleman (Stack's Bowers & Ponterio, ANA Auction, 16 August 2021), lot 42087
According to legend, the Cretan artisan and scientist Daedalus built the Labyrinth on orders from King Minos, who needed a place to keep his wife Pasiphae's monstrous son, the Minotaur. Pasiphae had fallen in love with a beautiful sacrificial bull and the half-man, half-bull Minotaur was the result of her cross-species passion. The Latin poet Ovid, drawing from tradition and oral history, said Daedalus built the Labyrinth so cunningly he nearly trapped himself within its winding passages. The Minotaur was placed at the center and Minos ordered that seven youths and seven maidens be sent by Athens, then subject to Crete, each year as a sacrifice offering to feed the beast. The Athenian hero Theseus volunteered as one of the victims and, with the help of Minos' daughter Ariadne, smuggled in a sword, which he used to slay the Minotaur, and a ball of twine to help him navigate the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth soon became the very symbol of Crete and is shown on the reverse of coins struck by Cnossus, its largest city and Minos' capital. Some coins show the Labyrinth in a circular form, while others depict it as square. Archaeologists have found considerable evidence that the Labyrinth was not entirely mythical. Sir Arthur Evans proposed that based on the remains of the huge, sprawling Minoan palace complex of Cnossus could have been viewed as an inescapable maze, making its way into the Greek mythology.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-crete-cnossus-ca-2nd-1st-centuries-bc-ar-tetradrachm-30mm-1408-gm-12h-ngc-photo-certificate-choi/a/3106-33069.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3106-01172023
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
CRETE. Cnossus. Ca. 2nd-1st centuries BC. AR tetradrachm (30mm, 14.08 gm, 12h). NGC (photo-certificate) Choice VF 4/5 - 2/5, edge marks, scratches, overstruck. ΠΟΛ-ΧΟΣ, laureate head of Apollo left; beaded border / KNΩ-I-NΩ-Σ, circular Labyrinth. Svoronos 96. BMC 41. An extremely rare example of this later type of labyrinth, as opposed to the more common square construction. Attractive cabinet toning in the recesses highlights the devices.
Ex Collection of a Gentleman (Stack's Bowers & Ponterio, ANA Auction, 16 August 2021), lot 42087
According to legend, the Cretan artisan and scientist Daedalus built the Labyrinth on orders from King Minos, who needed a place to keep his wife Pasiphae's monstrous son, the Minotaur. Pasiphae had fallen in love with a beautiful sacrificial bull and the half-man, half-bull Minotaur was the result of her cross-species passion. The Latin poet Ovid, drawing from tradition and oral history, said Daedalus built the Labyrinth so cunningly he nearly trapped himself within its winding passages. The Minotaur was placed at the center and Minos ordered that seven youths and seven maidens be sent by Athens, then subject to Crete, each year as a sacrifice offering to feed the beast. The Athenian hero Theseus volunteered as one of the victims and, with the help of Minos' daughter Ariadne, smuggled in a sword, which he used to slay the Minotaur, and a ball of twine to help him navigate the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth soon became the very symbol of Crete and is shown on the reverse of coins struck by Cnossus, its largest city and Minos' capital. Some coins show the Labyrinth in a circular form, while others depict it as square. Archaeologists have found considerable evidence that the Labyrinth was not entirely mythical. Sir Arthur Evans proposed that based on the remains of the huge, sprawling Minoan palace complex of Cnossus could have been viewed as an inescapable maze, making its way into the Greek mythology.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-crete-cnossus-ca-2nd-1st-centuries-bc-ar-tetradrachm-30mm-1408-gm-12h-ngc-photo-certificate-choi/a/3106-33069.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3106-01172023
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved