Choose Category:

Home > Auctions > 4th June 2024 > Roman Bronze Statuette of Athena

Print page | Email lot to a friend

Back to previous page


Use mousewheel to zoom in and out, click to enlarge
Gallery loading...

LOT 0116

Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640

ROMAN BRONZE STATUETTE OF ATHENA
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
5 1/8 in. (279 grams total, 13 cm including stand).

Standing erect in contrapposto pose, wearing a floor-length himation and with the gorgoneion medallion on her chest; Corinthian helmet on her head tilted backwards to reveal her face; right arm raised and bent with open hand to accept a spear-shaft; mounted on a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]

PROVENANCE:
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

PUBLISHED:
Exhibited at Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 14th March-9th June 2024; accompanied by a copy of a photograph of the artefact on display.

LITERATURE:
Cf. Reinach, S., Repertoire de la statuarie Grecque et Romaine, Paris, 1930, pp.276ff., for the type; Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 67, for similar.

FOOTNOTES:
The figure is a hybrid based on representation of Roman Minerva, closely associated with Greek Athena. The missing attributes are the spear and the shield, according to the type of Minerva of Firenze (Reinach, 1930, p.278).

CONDITION