2nd century BC. A silver bell-shaped cup or bowl, raised from a single sheet of silver, parcel-gilt, with hatched gilt bands to the inner face, pointillé maker or owner stamp to the outer rim; the interior of the cup decorated with a gilded circular band under the rim, and a central gilded garland in which a series of leaves is alternating geometrical patterns ornamented with dots and lines. See Pfrommer, M., Metalwork from the Hellenized East: Catalogue of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1993, pp.21ff and 140ff, for general discussion and parallels.305 grams, 15cm diameter (6"). Property of an American collector; previously from the private German collection of Mr F., formed 1950-1960; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate. During the Hellenistic period, wealthy Greeks, rich Hellenised Asian people and even Central Asian royalty used silver as a sign of wealth more commonly than before. The profits from the mines of Laurium Hills in Attica, discovered in 5th century BC, enriched several Athenian families and created a greater pool of silver with which artisans could produce fine goods like this cup. In Hellenistic times we often find a small ornamental medallion in the centre, framed by tendril friezes or other decorative zones at varying intervals, like in our cup, and, especially if the cup was purchased by a Barbarian leader, the punched mark of the Greek workshop which produced the vessel, with the possible indication of the weight, or the owner's name. The decoration of our cup finds a parallel among Near Eastern silver and suggests the work of an eastern Hellenised workshop. Archaeological findings suggest ritual functions for these cups too. Silver cups have been abundantly found at sanctuaries of Diana and Hercules - two figures in classical religion associated with birth, nursing, and rearing children. [No Reserve] [A video of this lot is available to view on TimeLine Auctions website.]