A Greek gold bracelet produced in around 300 BC has made $149,000 at Christie's Ancient Jewellery sale in New York.

A similar bracelet is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

It is formed of a hollow loop adorned with images of small birds, and displays a representation of the god Pan, along with a Herakles knot - set with a die-cast lion.

The Hellenistic period (323-31 BC) was a time of enormous change in Greece, most notably in the widespread adoption of Athenian democracy, and ushered in an age of great prosperity - leading to high demand for luxuries such as jewellery.

A Greek gold and carnelian finger ring, circa 330-300 BC, also featured at the December 13 sale, making $118,750.

It contains a depiction of an aged Herakles carved in profile into the bezel - a design that remained popular well into the third century AD.

Two similar examples, one found in Taranto and the other in Avola - both in Italy, can be found in the collection of the British Museum.

A Roman Sardonyx cameo dating to around the first century AD realised $118,750.

It has been carved to an exceptional standard, with the artist using the stone's natural banding to create a three-dimensional profile of a bacchante, or priest of the god Bacchus.

In mythology they are depicted as being in thrall to the god of wine and capable of tearing hapless mortals to shreds with their bare hands.

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