LOT 0123

Roman Bronze Goddess Applique

2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.

8 1/4 in. (3.66 kg total, 20.5 cm including stand).

The goddess Tyche or Cybele with a facing female bust wearing a mural crown, braided hair cascading to the sides, high-relief lenticular eyes, and small slit mouth, two iron fixing rivets; the lower part with detailed necklace of pendants, catena decorative chain, lateral braids, ferrous fixture; old collector's label 'BR.APP.064' to verso; repaired and mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Private collection of Mr S.A., Switzerland, 1990s, thence by descent.

Cf. Beutler, F. et al., Der Adler Roms. Carnuntum und der Armee der Cäsaren, Bad-Deutsch Altenberg, 2017, item 69, for type, referred to as Isis-Venus; for Cybele with a mural crown see Reinach, S., Repertoire de la statuarie Grecque et Romaine, Paris, 1930, p.369; see also Metropolitan Museum of Art inventory no.47.100.40, for a bronze statuette of Tyche with mural crown.

The crown that characterises the bronze applique (corona muralis = wall crown) was a military decoration using symbolism from the Hellenistic age. Often associated with Tyche (Fortuna), the crown was also an attribute of the goddess Cybele, particularly when made of wood. However, the presence of a necklace similar to a late Roman statuette of Tyche at the Metropolitan Museum of Art seems to point more to the first identification. This bronze applique was probably used as decoration for a chariot used in a procession for the goddess, or as a furniture decoration.