CYCLADES, Naxos. Circa 540/30-520/15 BC. Stater (Silver, 19 mm, 12.07 g). Kantharos with ivy wreath below lip and bunch of grapes hanging from each handle; above, ivy leaf. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. BMC 1 (same dies). McClean 7271 and pl. 246, 15 (same dies). Nicolet-Pierre 1-2. Sheedy Series I, 4 (O3/R4). SNG Lockett 2616 (same dies). Very rare. Beautifully toned and struck in high relief. Some horn silver and with minor deposits and faint scratches, otherwise, good very fine.

As the largest of the Cycladic islands, Naxos held significant importance in archaic times. Its wealth was derived in part from the extensive extraction of white marble, viticulture, and the fertile western coastal plain, which earned it the epithets 'Dionysiada' and 'Little Sicily,' as recorded by Pliny (Pliny 4.12.67). According to Herodotus, around 500 BC, the island maintained an army of 8,000 men, suggesting a population of nearly 40,000 (Sheedy, p. 86) - far more than the current 20,000. The Persian invasions of 500 and 490 BC, however, led to the island's rapid economic decline. The iconography of Naxian coins is distinctly Dionysian, reflecting not only the island’s viticultural wealth but also the myth of Ariadne, who was found asleep on a beach on Naxos by Dionysos. The god immediately fell in love with the beautiful princess and fathered several children with her, including Oenopion, who came to symbolize wine production. It is remarkable that our magnificent stater, one of the most beautiful and impressive large silver coins of Naxos, was not included in Sheedy’s otherwise meticulously researched work. The likely reason lies in the particular circumstances surrounding the sale of the important collection of John Richard Brinsley Norton, 5th Baron Grantley, FSA, FRNS (1 October 1855-5 August 1943), a history we discuss in more detail under Lot 165 below. Lord Grantley’s coins were auctioned by Glendining under wartime conditions and extreme time pressure, mostly without illustrations and in group lots, in summary catalogues that are now exceedingly rare. This explains why this splendid, almost sculptural Naxian stater, despite its distinguished provenance, was not recorded by Sheedy