Details

LOT 0624

Roman Bronze Cavalryman Statuette with Paenula

1ST-3RD CENTURY A.D.

4 in. (271 grams, 10.1 cm including stand).

Modelled in the round in seated pose with both hands extended forwards to hold reins; the body covered by an open-fronted paenula riding cape; boots to the feet; mounted on a custom-made stand. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Found in Britain.
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.

Literature

Cf. Mackintosh, M.C., The Divine Horseman in the Art of the Western Roman Empire, 1992, fig.12, for a similar statuette from Rouen.

Footnotes

The statuette, like the one from Rouen published by Mackintosh, represents a link between the Romano-British and Gallo-British figurines of the cavalrymen and Imperial statuary. They are of relatively good workmanship and represents a rider seated on a walking horse. The rider is dressed in a short-sleeved tunic and the military paenula, echoing the representation of Marcus Aurelius on his horse. The raised arm could mean that he was wearing a spear.