LOT 0060

Greek Bronze Hephaistos Statuette

CIRCA 5TH CENTURY B.C.

5 1/4 in. (294 grams total, 13.5 cm high including stand).

The elegant figure depicting the Greek god of fire and metalworking seated and nude except for the pilos on his head, lean body with naturalistic detailing, shown bearded and with curly hair emerging beneath the cap; he would have once held a pair of tongs in his left hand and a hammer in his right hand; accompanied by a custom-made display stand.

with Elie Borowski, Basel.
Subsequently in the collection of Denys Sutton (1917-1991), London, acquired from the above on 11 October 1963.
Thence by descent.
with Sotheby's, New York, 6 December 2012, lot 11.

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. 11827-207739.

See Reinach, S., Repertoire de la statuarie grecque et romaine, Paris, 1930, pp.39-40, for the Hephaistos iconography; Hensly, C., ‘Proceed to Olympus: the iconography of the Return of Hephaestus’ in Undergraduate Research Awards. 14, Hollins, 2013, fig.5.

According to legend, Hephaistos was thrown into the ocean by his mother Hera and raised by the sea nymph Thetis. Upon his return to Olympus, he took his revenge by imprisoning his mother and obtaining the hand of the most beautiful of the goddesses, Aphrodite. He became the blacksmith of the gods. Sculptural depictions of the god, known as Vulcan to the Romans, are very rare. Hephaistos was the armourer of the heroes, and certainly his greatest artwork was making Achilles' armour.