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LOT 0064
Etruscan Bronze Statuette of Herakles
4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
5 3/4 in. (7 5/8 in.) (290 grams total, 14.5 cm high (19.5 cm high including stand)).
Modelled in the round with a muscular nude body, his club resting on his shoulder and the hair dressed in rows of tight, close-set curls underneath the Nemean lionskin hood with cloak billowing over his left arm, the paws tied across his chest; mounted on a custom-made display stand.
Provenancewith Sotheby's, New York, 21 November 1985, no.60.
Ex private New York collection.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11794-206497.
Cf. Colonna, G., ‘Problemi dell’arte figurativa in età ellenistica nell’Italia Adriatica’, in Atti del I⁰ convegno di studi sulle Antichità Adriatiche, Chieti, 1971, pp.172-177; Adam, A.M., Bronzes étrusques et italiques, Paris, 1984, p.190, nos.291-292; cf. also The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 96.9.297, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 66.41, for comparable figures; for the type see the British Museum no.1895,0408.1, in the British Museum Department of British & Medieval Antiquities, Guide to the Antiquities of Roman Britain, London, 1964, p.54, pl.13,7; for Herakles-Alcides in the Etruscan-Latin world see also Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), vol.V., Zurich, 1990, pp.196-253, s.v. Herakles/Hercle.
FootnotesThe statuette assumes the position of the 'attacking Hercules', which characterises numerous Etruscan statues of the hero of the classical era, however, with a less aggressive stance. The type was probably an Etruscan creation of the 5th century B.C., based on Greek models, which lasted until the end of the Hellenistic period, when Etruria was by then incorporated into the Roman world. This statuette, despite certain anatomical stylisation and an impersonal characterisation of the face, is the result of a good artistic and technical quality. The comparison of the artwork with the group identified as ‘Trieste’ from Colonna shows that this specimen is more recent and should be dated to the end of the Hellenistic Age. These small statuettes were probably offered ex-voto by the Romano-Etruscan aristocracy of the period.
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LOT 0064
Etruscan Bronze Statuette of Herakles
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000€23,200 - 34,800 (for guidance only)$27,000 - 40,500 (for guidance only)
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Attic Red-Figure Bell Krater with Drunken Male Revellers Attributed to the Kadmos Painter
5th-4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £32,500
With a high foot, laurel wreath encircling the neck, checkerboard and meander patterns alternating around the lower body, roundels of tongue motif to the handles with palmettes and tendrils below; two red-figure scenes to the body: Side a: a high-quality depiction of a kōmos composed of five figures, including a young man holding a torch, a double flute player next to three dancers, all possibly followers of Dionysus; Side b: three draped figures conversing comprising a central female figure between two opposed male figures, one holding a staff; two old labels: one with 3061-133 on the inner rim, and 113/2 (believed to be an old Christie's lot label from the 1960s by Richard Falkiner) on the sidewall, further old accession numbers 321 and 35 under the base. 3.8 kg, 37 cm wide
Thomas Hope (1769-1831), London and the Deepdene, Surrey, Thence by descent to Lord Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton-Hope (1866-1941), the Deepdene. The Celebrated Collection of Greek, Roman and Egyptian Sculpture and Ancient Vases being a portion of The Hope Heirlooms; Christie's, London, 23-24 July 1917, no.113. Private collection, acquired in Paris, 2004. Accompanied by a copy of a thermoluminescence analysis report no.N111j79 from Oxford Authentication. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11786-206517.
The Kadmos Painter was an Athenian red-figure vase painter, whose real name is unknown. His nickname was bestowed by Beazley, naming him after the subject of a famous hydria in Berlin (Antikensammlungen Berlin/Altes Museum, found in Vulci). He illustrated many mythological scenes, sometimes with figures arranged up and down the field, usually on bell craters, vessels used in symposia for mixing wine and water. A komos was a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revellers in ancient Greece. It preceded and/or followed the banquet, whether unbridled in nature with music and games, or serious and philosophical. -
Greek and Indus Valley Terracotta Vessel Collection
3rd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Mixed group of vessels including biconvex bowl, drum-shaped jar and other types, some with painted ornament. 2.1 kg total, 7.8-18 cm
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. -
Greek Geometric Miniature Bronze Vessel with Cross
8th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Hemispherical bowl with lateral cranked arms to the rim, pierced lozenge beneath with stub arms. 16.3 grams, 42 mm
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.