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_900x900.jpg "Large Roman Bronze Staff Finial with Bust of Serapis")
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_900x900.jpg "Large Roman Bronze Staff Finial with Bust of Serapis")
_200x200.jpg "Large Roman Bronze Staff Finial with Bust of Serapis")
.jpg "Large Roman Bronze Staff Finial with Bust of Serapis")
.jpg "Large Roman Bronze Staff Finial with Bust of Serapis")
LOT 0131
Large Roman Bronze Staff Finial with Bust of Serapis
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
11 5/8 in. (1.4 kg, 29.5 cm high).
With luxuriant long wavy hair and characteristic vertical locks at the forehead, full beard with two large ringlets below the chin, wearing a chiton and a himation draped over the left shoulder, the head surmounted by a corn modius decorated with olive branch in relief, the bust supported on the back of an eagle standing atop an orb with spread wings, the eagle with its head slightly turned to the left, the feathers finely detailed; a finial from a staff or a ceremonial standard.
ProvenanceEx private collection, South Germany, 1980.
with Gorny and Mosch, Munich, 13 December 2003, lot 74.
with Christie's, New York, 8 June 2012, lot 239.
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.11789-206489.
Cf. similar bust in the Virginia Museum of fine Arts, inventory no.98.23; another similar piece, but with the eagle upon the polos, in Mitten, D.G., Doeringer, S.F., Master Bronzes from the Classical World, Exhibition, Fogg Art Museum/City Museum of Saint Louis/Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1967-1968, no.217; for a bronze bust without eagle see the bust of Zeus Serapis in the Saint Louis Art Museum, inv. no. 69:1923.
FootnotesThe Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211 A.D.) modelled many of his portraits based on Serapis. But it was under Hadrian that the refurbishment of the statue in the Serapeum increased the demand for small-scale images, like this one, probably made during his reign and used atop of a processional sceptre or standard for the cult of the god.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0131
Large Roman Bronze Staff Finial with Bust of Serapis
Estimate £80,000 - 100,000€92,800 - 116,000 (for guidance only)$108,000 - 135,000 (for guidance only)
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Roman Amber Glass Date Vessel
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Mould-blown with elliptical body, short neck and thick everted rim in amber-tinted glass, the body with modelled wrinkles to resemble a date. 30.3 grams, 64 mm high
Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016. -
Roman Bronze Military Belt Mount
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Composing two opposed dragonesque figures with tail and lowered head, sitting on a peltate style cut out. 19.7 grams, 35 mm
Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Ruislip, UK, gentleman, by inheritance.
Belt appliques and decorations change notably during the centuries of the Roman Empire. In around 2nd-3rd centuries A.D., particularly in Pannonia and in Britain, show many very Celtic orientated fittings, maybe as the result of provincial influences within the army or production systems. -
Roman Silver Earring Pair
Circa 1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Each composed of a tapering ear hoop and domed discoid plaque over a horizontal bar; one incomplete. 2.91 grams total, 18-20 mm
Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Ruislip, UK, gentleman, by inheritance.
