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LOT 0164
Roman Bronze Harpokrates-Eros Statuette
CIRCA 2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
2 1/4 in. (48 grams, 56 mm).
Seated nude wearing the double-crown and with his forefinger pressed to his lips; supporting a frond on his left arm; hollow to the underside. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom 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.
Cf. similar item, standing, in the British Museum, London, under accession no.1896,0724.1.
FootnotesHarpokrates was the Greek interpretation of the Egyptian god Har-pa-khered (Horus the child), usually depicted as a small boy. Statues of Harpokrates are preserved in the Greco-Roman Museum of Alexandria (inv.25785), and at the Musei Capitolini, Rome (inv. Scu 646).
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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Roman Bronze Lying Doe Statuette
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Modelled in the round with legs folded beneath the body, light texturing. 59.8 grams, 46 mm
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. -
Roman Gilt Bronze Phalera with Theseus and the Minotaur
2nd century B.C.- 2nd century A.D.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
Domed roundel with high-relief design of combat between a bearded hero and a monster, wreath and rosettes to the rim. 32 grams, 49 mm
Found near Sedgeford, Norfolk, UK, in the 1980s. Acquired in the late 1990s. Property of a Norfolk, UK, collector.
According to the legend, Theseus, prince of Athens, went to the island of Crete to kill a monster who was the son of queen Pasifae and a wild bull, although officially he was the son of Minos and Pasiphae. Theseus chased him into the labyrinth, killed him and found his way out with the help of the comb of Ariadne, daughter of King Minos. The myth has its representation in the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic period, and was widely depicted in the Graeco-Roman world. The present repoussé appliqué was probably used as a furniture or horse harness ornament. -
Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Theatre Masks
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
Polished to an oval shape, engraved with eight theatre masks in two rows; one row with three tragic masks in profile, one depicting a satyr, and a tragic mask of an old man shown frontally; the opposing row with a tragic mask of an old man in profile, a Bacchus mask, a mask of a bearded man wearing a cap shown in three-quarter view, and a mask of a young hero facing the centre. 2.51 grams, 22.02 mm
From the collection of a late London, UK, gentleman, 1980s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12033-214124.
The masks represented seem to be relevant to the typologies of the 'new comedy', an image that appears on cameos and gems since the Augustan era.
