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LOT 0780
Hellenistic or Roman Bronze Statuette of a Grotesque Holding a Jar
ALEXANDRIA, 1ST CENTURY B.C.-3RD CENTURY A.D.
2 5/8 in. (73.7 grams total, 68 mm including stand).
Modelled standing nude in a contorted pose with legs spread, holding a jar or bag to his chest; mounted on a custom-made stand. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
Cf. Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 211, for type; 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, figs.2-3-4, for similar.
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.
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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LOT 0780
Hellenistic or Roman Bronze Statuette of a Grotesque Holding a Jar
Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
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South Italian Terracotta Amphora
4th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Black-glazed, biconvex in profile with carination to the equator, domed foot, flange collar below the rounded rim, lateral bifid strap handles. 271 grams, 13 cm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. -
Greek Gold Earrings with Female Heads
Hellenistic, 2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,470
Each a hollow-formed female head with stephane to the brow, granulated collars flanking biconvex bulbs, tapering twisted shank curved to meet the gussetted loop above the head. 5.93 grams total, 25-28 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
Etruscan Bronze Statuette
Circa 6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Standing figure wearing a tunic with straight arms placed to the sides, with exaggerated facial features including bulbous eyes; mounted on a custom-made stand. 49.6 grams total, 84 mm including stand
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
The statuette belongs to a group of standing archaic statuettes, with short hair rendered by incised lines. They are usually depicted with legs together, arms at the sides or bent forward if they are holding objects (see the augur statuette from Lapis Niger, Rome).
