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.

Belgian 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.

Such 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.