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LOT 0052
Greek Bronze Statuette of an Alexandrian Dancing Dwarf
HELLENISTIC, 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.
5 7/8 in. (295 grams total, 15 cm high imcluding stand).
In an active pose with both legs bent and left arm raised dramatically, head tilted to the left; exaggerated facial features, short trimmed hair, slim body with developed pectoral muscles and pronounced kyphosis; mounted on a columnar stand.
ProvenanceBelgian private art collection of M.A., Brussels, Belgium, 1995.
with Gorny and Mosch, 14 December 2011, no.82.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13330-258951.
Cf. bronze figure of a dwarfd dancing in the British Museum under accession no. 1875,0517.103; cf. also Bolla, M., ‘Nani e pigmei nella piccola plastica in bronzo dell’Italia Settentrionale’ in Leger, C., Raux, S., Des objects et des hommes, Ėtudes offertes a Michel Feugère, Drémil-Lafage, 2021, pp.163-171, fig.4, for the image of a dancing dwarf.
FootnotesSuch figures are often described as ‘grotesques’, yet typically constituted overstated representations of people with dwarfism. Such individuals are invariably shown with exaggerated features such as pot bellies, hunched backs, bald heads, large phalli and angry facial expressions.
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LOT 0052
Greek Bronze Statuette of an Alexandrian Dancing Dwarf
Estimate £3,000 - 4,000€3,480 - 4,640 (for guidance only)$4,050 - 5,400 (for guidance only)
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Greek Miniature Bronze Hydria
Geometric Period, 6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £845
With a bulbous body, flared foot, lateral loop handles to the shoulder and a strap handle to the rear. 23.5 grams, 37 mm
Acquired by a Swiss family in the mid-1980s to late 1990s, thence by descent. Private collection, Switzerland, since the late 1990s.
The earliest Archaic Greek bronze hydriai enter the archaeological record in the last quarter of the seventh century. Although the appearance of bronze marks the first significant period of production in the Iron Age, these vessels represent a reawakening of an illustrious tradition dating back at least to the Helladic Bronze Age, if not considerably earlier.
