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_900x900.jpg "Large Roman Bronze Staff Finial with Bust of Serapis")
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LOT 0111
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; repaired.
ProvenanceEx private collection, South Germany, 1980.
with Gorny and Mosch, Munich, 13 December 2003, no.74.
with Christie's, New York, 8 June 2012, no.239 (US $120,000-180,000).
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. a 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 0111
Large Roman Bronze Staff Finial with Bust of Serapis
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000€58,000 - 81,200 (for guidance only)$67,500 - 94,500 (for guidance only)
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Roman Sheet Gold Phalera Cover Pair with Pelta Shields
4th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
Comprising two discoid ornamental appliqués with beaded rims, each with repoussé pelta-shaped panel terminating in opposed bird-heads, surmounted by scrolled tendrils and a kantharos enclosed in a laurel crown. 7.28 grams total, 64-65 mm
Acquired in the early 1990s. From the collection of a London antiquarian. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The subject represented on these two bracteae is a military shield in the form of a crescent, the so-called pelta, associated in the Late Roman iconography with the Amazon female warriors. This was not necessarily only an iconographic motif, considering that many shields of this typology were represented on the pedestal of the Column of Arcadius in Constantinople (circa 400 A.D.) and they seemed to be associated with the heavy cavalry of the Imperial guard (D’Amato-Negin, 2017, p.252). This could suggest that these gold sheets were applied upon phalerae or military decorations. -
Roman Highly Tinned Bronze Bowl
1st-3rd century A.D.Estimate: £1,800 - 2,400 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,000
Hemispherical in profile with low foot, incised circumferential lines to rim; high-tin surface with silvery appearance. 177 grams, 10.3 cm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12234-222176. -
Roman Bronze Brooch Collection
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Including penannular, La Tène III and other types; all complete with pins. 28 grams total, 38-56 mm
Property of the vendor's grandfather, thence by family descent, circa 1985. From the private collection of a New York, USA gentleman.
