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LOT 0166
Life-Size Roman Bronze Club from a Statue of Hercules
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
21 5/8 in. (4.73 kg total, club: 55 cm).
Hollow-formed life-size club with tubular handle and flared rim, shank with series of regularly-placed knop projections on piriform pads, domed end; mounted on a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceFormerly in North American collection, 1990s.
From an Austrian collection, acquired in London from UK collector in early 2000s.
From a London gentleman's collection, 2000s.
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.12345-225411.
Cf. Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence XVIII, Paris, 1965, no.100, for a figure with similar example; for the iconography of Hercules with such club see Reinach, S., Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, Paris, 1897, p.207, no.8, 208, nos.6,8; the typology is the one of the Hercules Capitolino (Capitolini Museums, inv. MC1265) or Farnese, where the hero is resting upon his club, see Reinach, 1897, pp.209ff.; Haskell, F., and Penny, N., Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, Yale, 1981, p.227, Cat.no.45.
FootnotesLike the famous statue of Hercules in gilded bronze (the so called Hercules from the Forum Boarium), today at the Capitoline Museums (Palazzo dei Conservatori), this club would have come from a temple dedicated to the Greek hero. The Mastai Hercules, at the Vatican Museum, shows a similar club. The presence of a large handle in our piece confirms that the club was held with the right hand in resting position, and that the typology of Hercules was probably one of the two models.
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 0166
Life-Size Roman Bronze Club from a Statue of Hercules
Sold for (Inc. bp): £16,900
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Roman Silvered Bronze Military Horse Harness Pendant
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
A discoid pendant with scalloped edges and onion-knop finial, recurving loop with beast-head finial. 8.57 grams, 50 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Bronze Grotesque Silenus on Dolphin Handle
Circa 2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Formed as a dolphin with hollow-formed curved body attached at the mouth to the base; standing on the dolphin's lower back, a grotesque bearded figure of Silenus with a furry body, and with a rope tied around his waist, his arms spread holding a cymbal in each hand; stub to the rear where the dolphin's tail joined to form a loop; mounted on a custom-made stand. 370 grams total, 17.5 cm 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.
Silenus is here represented as Papposilenus, a representation of Silenus that emphasises his old age, particularly as a stock character in satyr play or comedy. His costuming includes a body stocking tufted with hair (mallōtos chitōn) that seems to have come into use in the mid-5th century B.C. -
Roman Miniature Glass Juglet
1st-4th century A.D.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
Miniature ewer with applied trails to the body, strap handle and tubular rim. 3.43 grams, 25 mm
From the collection of Mr S.M., London, UK, formed from 1969-1999.
