Gallo-Roman Bronze Statuette of a Rider God

1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

4 1/4 in. (154 grams total, 11 cm including stand).

Modelled in the round as a nude horseman with legs spread, musculature suggested to the chest and abdomen, shoulder-length hair with wavy locks, almond-shaped eyes and snub nose; right hand extended palm-upwards; 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.

Literature

Cf. Boucher, S., Recherches sur les Bronzes Figurés de Gaule Pré-Romaine et Romaine, Rome, 1976, item 354, for type.

Footnotes

The type has similarities with representations of Mercury on horseback, who is shown in an identical position. Images of Romano-Celtic rider-gods, possibly associated with the Roman god of war Mars, used similar iconography. There are a number of such rider statuettes from Roman Britain and Gaul, potentially votive offerings to a deity.

CONDITION

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LOT 0751