LOT 0081

Greek Terracotta Venus and Triton Group

1ST CENTURY B.C.

7 1/8 in. (688 grams, 18 cm high).

Both figures represented facing with bare chests, Aphrodite sitting next to the triton and holding himation over her head with her right hand, her right leg raised and the left extended, the lower part of her himation covering the lower half of her body; the lower part of Triton’s body covered by marine foliage, from which the long serpentine tail emerges on the opposite side next to Aphrodite's right leg; possibly from Asia Minor; repaired.

Ex French Sorbonne archaeology professor (deceased); 1960s-2000s.

Accompanied by an original thermoluminescence analysis report no.QED2323/FG-0201 from the QED Laboratory, Marseille, France.

Cf. Higgins, R.A., Greek Terracottas, London, 1967, pl. 55C, for a similar terracotta in Myrina style, representing Eros and Psyche; pl.52B, for a similar head of Aphrodite.

Many of the Smyrna and Myrina figures are feminine, the heads modelled in late Hellenistic style. The bodies are often either draped in Tanagra-style robes, or represented as figures of Aphrodite, draped, semi-nude or naked. The association with Triton is linked with the Greek myth of Aphrodite born from sea foam.