{"title":"New Arrivals","description":"\u003cp\u003ePre-order or enquire about artefacts at the design and jewellery-making stage.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"alektor","title":"Alektor","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003ePre-order\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn extremely fine quality carnelian stone with an equally refined Classical Greek intaglio, depicting the moment before combat between a \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003ecoiled serpent or drakōn\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eand a rooster -  5th century BC.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn ancient Greece, the rooster was a symbol of \u003cem\u003eagôn\u003c\/em\u003e or competitive struggle. The Metropolitan Museum has an Attic amphora from 570–560 BC on which two warriors fight on one side and two roosters confront one another on the other, noting that the two subjects can be regarded as complementary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 2nd century Greek author Aelian tells the story that, before battle, Themistocles pointed out fighting cocks to his soldiers, observing that the birds fought simply because neither would submit to the other.  The episode was supposedly commemorated in annual Athenian cockfights.  This shows us how Greeks understood the image of a rooster: unyielding courage and refusal to be defeated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAelian also said that \"the deadly basilisk fears the cock: it trembles at the sight of one and dies when it hears the cock crow\". The basilisk was a type of drakōn or mythical serpent. Travellers in Libya therefore took a cock with them as protection against the creature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Walters Art Museum has a Greek ivory disc seal, probably 7th century BC, on which a rooster is striding with open beak and raised wing, with snakes above and below it. Such seals were found in sanctuaries including Artemis Orthia at Sparta, Hera Limenia at Perachora and the Argive Heraion.  However this remarkable carnelian intaglio is possibly unique in showing a drakōn specifically - the protrusion below the head is not a lower jaw but a 'beard', opposed by a crest on top of the head.  The dramatic scene poised at the moment just before combat - a composition beloved in late Archaic and early Classical art for its contained tension.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe gem is soon to be reborn in a remarkable one-of-a-kind ring.  Contact to enquire.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"KAPISTREE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53492205551952,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0785\/8913\/3136\/files\/12862_8b75bec8-3fc4-4d18-ac0e-dd69c116ad66.jpg?v=1788007583"},{"product_id":"kallos","title":"Kallos","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFinest quality Hellenistic head bead, 3rd - 1st century BC, drilled and sculpted in vivid banded agate.  The head is wearing the youthful hetaira mask of Greek comedy.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe delicate carving carefully depicts the features of a wooden mask - wide face, pronounced chin and brow, large almond-shaped eyes for the wearer to see through.  The sensuous lips and elegant nose depict youthful female beauty.  There is a fillet band simply marked at the top of the brow and a hairnet (kekryphalos) on the reverse - indicators of the \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ehetairidion hōraion\u003c\/em\u003e according to Julius Pollux, the 2nd century Greek scholar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePollux catalogued 44 distinct theatrical masks.  The bead corresponds to Pollux Type 39. \u003cem\u003eHōraion\u003c\/em\u003e carries the sense of being in one's youthful bloom or prime.  \u003cem\u003eHetairidion\u003c\/em\u003e means \"little companion\" or \"little courtesan\", referring to the highly educated class of independent female companions in antiquity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eShe occupied a boundary that respectable Athenian women normally did not: she could talk freely and debate with men, move through male social space, be an object of desire, negotiate relationships and money, and exercise a degree of agency unavailable to the conventional citizen daughter or wife.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eHetaira were trained in music, dance, poetry and philosophy and could attend the \u003cem\u003eSymposium\u003c\/em\u003e.  \"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUsually living fashionably alone\", notes the Encyclopedia Britannica, \"the hetairai enjoyed an enviable and respected position of wealth.  Generally foreigners...they were \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003enoted for their outstanding physical and cultural accomplishments\".\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis extraordinary micro-sculpture, just 19mm tall, will be set in a high jewellery lapel pin.  Contact us to enquire.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"KAPISTREE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53492431618384,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0785\/8913\/3136\/files\/13712_921f02ea-03aa-4423-b100-c72a131d66bc.jpg?v=1788017083"},{"product_id":"nebu","title":"Nebu","description":"\u003cp\u003eEgyptian agate fish micro-sculpture, New Kingdom late period, circa 1150 - 350 BC.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCarved from a translucent banded agate of warm golden and honey tones shading to milky white at the head.  The fish is most plausibly identified as the Bulti or Nile Tilapia.  Drilled with a small suspension hole running horizontally from the mouth, the remarkable aspect of this pendant is the exuberant choice of stone to perfectly match light on shimmering scales.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContact to enquire further.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"KAPISTREE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53492435091792,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0785\/8913\/3136\/files\/13340_b9296a7c-14e2-4ca5-9692-4abadd782ea5.jpg?v=1788021132"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0785\/8913\/3136\/collections\/12862_8b75bec8-3fc4-4d18-ac0e-dd69c116ad66.jpg?v=1788011358","url":"https:\/\/www.kapistree.com\/collections\/new-works.oembed","provider":"KAPISTREE","version":"1.0","type":"link"}