LOT 0091

Etruscan Bronze Statuette of a Draped Hero

4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.

7 3/8 in. (506 grams total, 18.7 cm including stand).

Modelled in the round, standing erect with right hand on his hip and left arm extending from the elbow resting on the left hip and with fingers curled to hold a staff or handle, wearing a loosely draped cloth over the left shoulder and drawn around the body to hang over the arms; ribbed cuffs to the boots; youthful face with tousled hair and slightly exaggerated lentoid eyes; C-shaped staple beneath the feet for attachment; supplied with a custom-made display stand.

with Sotheby’s, Antiquities, London, 6 July 1995, no.130.
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12194-222321.

Cf. Reinach, S., Repertoire de la statuaries grecque et romaine, Paris, 1930, p.216, no.1 (same position but naked, Heracles as Herculi Fundanio, see CIL,VI,311); 225 no.8 (Louvre); 506 no.1 (Etruscan Lar, same position but naked); cf. also Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 176, for a figure in similar costume.

The statue was probably a cult offering and presents an archaic Etruscan hairstyle; it is likely to have been produced as a votive offering or for private lararia. His warrior status can be confirmed by his boots, typical of archaic-era Etruscan and Latin warriors.