2nd century B.C. 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 garlandposed of alternating leaf and geometric forms, embellished 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, 15 cm diameter (6 in.). Acquired 1950-1960. Private German collection of Mr F. Property of an American collector. Property of a London gallery. During the Hellenistic period, wealthy Greeks, rich Hellenised Asian people and even Central Asian royalty used silver as a sign of wealth moremonly than before. The profits from the mines of Laurium Hills in Attica, discovered in 5th century B.C., 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 c too. Silver c have been unearthed in abundance at sanctuaries associated with 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 .]