Details

LOT 0127

Marble Statue of a Goddess

ROMAN, 3RD CENTURY A.D. OR LATER

41 in. (146 kg, 104 cm).

Possibly depicting Laetitia, the goddess of joy, standing in a contrapposto pose with left arm resting on an anchor, right arm aloft; wearing a chiton and himation, feet emerging from underneath the hem; lower part of a chignon visible on the back; repaired.

Provenance

From a private French collection.
Acquired in France before 1993.
From the personal collection of Gordon Gridley.

Gordon Gridley was a founding member of the Camden Passage antique dealers’ association. Trading in antiques from the late 1960s, he opened his first shop in 1971 and remained a well-known and respected figure in the antiques world until his retirement.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12087-214012.

Literature

Cf. Burnett, A., ‘The coinage of Allectus: Chronology and Interpretation’ in British Numismatic Journal (54), 1984, pp.21-40, pp.32ff. for legend and figures of the goddess on Roman coins; for Laetitia holding an anchor, see coin types for: Gordian III RIC 300b, Cohen 123; Valerian I RIC 216, Cohen 101, Sear 9944; Tacitus RIC V-1 144; Allectus RIC 22, Sear 13811; Carausius RIC V-2; Gallienus RIC 79, Cohen 420, Goebl 46p, Sear 10124; Victorinus Calico 3825, cf Elmer 706 a; Florian Rome 34 var; Estiot 2475-2487, ric.mom.fr, 4220; Carinus RIC V-2, 261, Sear 12349; Quintillus Sear 11444.