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LOT 0565
Greek and Roman Bronze Statue Collection
4TH CENTURY B.C.-4TH CENTURY A.D.
2 1/2 - 3 3/4 in. (352 grams total, 63-96 mm).
Comprising: an Etruscan figure of Turms (Greek Hermes), standing and holding a patera in his right hand, original lead mounting beneath; a standing figure of nude Aphrodite, possibly later; a figure of Baubo with her legs bent and right hand touching her genitals; two standing bronze figures holding offerings. [5, No Reserve]
ProvenanceHermes from the estate of a Swiss gentleman, Ticino, before 1970.
Sardinian figure ex private collection of Prof. Dr Hans (1918-1984) and Dr Ines (1922-2013) Jucker, classical archaeologists, Bern, Switzerland.
with Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, Switzerland.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12669-236450.
Cf. similar bronze statuettes of Augur in Torelli, M., Gli Etruschi, Monza, 2000, p.180, Turms, idem, p.372; cf. Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, items 27, for the type of Hermes; for Baubo’s statuettes see Nagwa Abdelnaby, A.I., ‘Two unpublished Figurines of Women Purifying themselves in the Greco-Roman Museum of Alexandria’ in Bulletin of the Center Payrological, 38 (1), November 2021, pp.645-664, figs.3, lett. A and D.
FootnotesBaubo was a minor divinity of Greek mythology, linked to the cult of Demeter and Persephone. The Egyptian Baubo figures are split into two groups. In some of these figurines her right hand is touching her genitalia. All these statuettes were votive offerings to the gods, and many of them were used as amulets.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Scythian Bronze Harness Fitting
5th-4th century B.C.Estimate: £700 - 900 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £350
Sub-rectangular flat panel with attachment loop to reverse; openwork design comprising two D-shaped panels, each with voids to the centre extending to two addorsed long-necked beasts with incised outline, eye and mouth detailing. 170 grams, 13.4 cm
Private European collection, 1990s. Private collection, London, UK. -
Lydian Silver Ribbed Jug with Spout and Handle
Archaic, 6th century B.C.Estimate: £6,000 - 8,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £3,000
Comprising a squat body with a median band of vertical ribbing, a short neck with a broad flared rim, and a thickened outer rim, a flared foot; fluted strap handle and a U-section spout flared at the outer end. 211 grams, 14 cm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Private collection, London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13266-253452.
This jug can plausibly be placed in the Lydian world of western Anatolia during the Archaic period, when Lydia stood at the crossroads of the Greek and Near Eastern worlds. Far from being culturally isolated, Lydia was deeply involved in the exchange of artistic forms, luxury materials, and metalworking traditions that moved across the eastern Mediterranean in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C. The attribution, therefore, suggests more than geography alone: it points to a wealthy and outward-looking culture in which prestige objects in precious metal carried both social and economic weight. Silver was especially important in this period. Before coinage became widespread, it functioned as a recognised store of value and circulated in weighed forms across the Mediterranean and Near East. In Lydia, its importance is sharpened by the region’s close association with the early history of coinage: ancient sources and modern scholarship alike connect the Lydians with the development of some of the earliest coined money, first in electrum and soon after in distinct gold and silver issues. A vessel such as this would therefore have been more than a practical object. Its material alone marked it as a possession of consequence, while its workmanship placed it firmly within the culture of elite display. -
Iberian Bronze Statuette of Youth
6th-4th century B.C.Estimate: £2,500 - 3,500 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,333
Youthful male standing, wearing a belted tunic with apron, arms spread wide, barefoot, bare-headed with short textured hair; mounted on a custom-made base. 215 grams total, 11.8 cm high including stand
Private collection, Paris, France, assembled in the 1950s-1960s. with Tessier-Sarrou & Associés, Paris, 2015. European private collection. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate, no.S00107108. Accompanied by a copy of French cultural export passport no.167803. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12650-264612.
