Lot 131. A pair of Greek gold theater mask pendants, Hellenistic period, circa 3rd-1st century B.C. Each 1.9 cm long. Price Realised GBP 4?032 (Estimate USD 2,000 - USD 3,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: with D.J. Crowther, London.
U.S. private collection, New England, acquired from the above, 24 May 1968.
Property of a New England Private Collector; Ancient Jewelry, Christie's, New York, 13 December 2013, lot 292.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, acquired from the above.
Acquired by the current owner from the above, 2014.

Exhibited: Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins, 2014-2023 (Inv. no. MMoCA835).

Note: These pendants each depict a mask of a comic slave with a characteristic megaphone-like mouth. Theatrical themes were fashionable for not only public decoration, such as on wall-paintings and mosaics, but also for personal adornment. Masks in particular were common motifs for jewellery, especially for seal rings, decorative cameos, and pendants, as here.

Christie's. Works of Art from the Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Online, London, 10 December 2024