We have a small selection of silver two-handled cups, bowls, and spouted bowls (bowls with spouts and handles on them) some with spirals and other embossed designs that were made during the time of the First Palaces. We also have a gold cup with running spirals (spirals connected by lines) and a rosette embossed on its base.
More recent objects of gold and silver fall into three categories: plain, embossed, and inlaid. The plain examples are beautiful in their simplicity. We have plain Mycenaean two-handled cups, gold and silver tea-cups, and gold goblets with single handles. Embossed examples include golden cups with spirals and floral designs and a gold cup with running spirals (connected spirals) and a ribbon (i.e. thin) handle. We also have a few examples of bronze cups that imitate gold originals. The bronze cups have spool handles and are decorated with stylized ivy leaves. We also have very fine gold cups decorated with a relief of a bull caught in a net on one side and a bull trampling his captors on the other side. Another golden cup shows a wild bull being distracted by a cow before being bound in captivity. We also have a set of silver tea cups decorated with spirals and a gold cup decorated with two lines of running spirals. Our most splendid golden cup is embossed with octopuses in a background of coral, sea-anemones, dolphins, and argonauts. We also have a large silver jug from Mycenae with a row of spirals and horizontal fluting. In addition, we have many fine inlaid pieces, The rim of a beautiful Mycenaean silver goblet is inlaid with gold and niello and decorated with a scene of fern-like plants growing in pots. One of my favorite pieces is a charming silver cup decorated with copper, gold, and silver bulls' heads and rosettes.
Our heirloom-quality weapons include swords with ornamental hilts from the period of the First Palaces. Some hilts are covered in gold foil and have bone pommels. Beneath the pommels are golden disks which have various embossed designs, such as an acrobat bending his body backwards in a complete circle. Other hilts are made of grey limestone covered with gold foil and have rock-crystal pommels. The top of one weapon is covered with lapis lazuli with gold highlights at the top and bottom. More recent examples have inlaid blades. Many of the more recent examples were made for the Mycenaean market by Minoans. The finest are a series of bronze daggers with gold hilts. The daggers have a strip of decoraction down the center of the dagger in silver, gold, and either a copper alloy or niello (a slightly glossy bluish black material made from powdered copper, lead, and silver). Some daggers are decorated with hunting leopards, dolphins, or running spirals. Earlier daggers show the most Minoan influence and are more highly decorated than the more restrained, Mycenaean-influenced examples. One fine Mycenaean example is decorated with a dolphin and a flying fish. Another has leopards hunting in a forest. The inlaying of dagger blades stopped several generations ago (about 1400 BC) so all of our examples are heirloom pieces. Get them now before their prices go up any higher! We also have miniature double-axes in gold and silver for votive offerings.
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Created before July 2005
Last Updated November 30, 2009