Roman Bronze Head of a Grotesque Dwarf

ALEXANDRIA, 1ST CENTURY A.D.

1 7/8 in. (67 grams, 48 mm).

Hollow-formed 'moneybox' with exaggerated nose and lips, small crescent-and-pellet ears, low-relief eyes with impressed pupils, small lock of hair to the scalp, vesica-shaped socket to the underside; pierced at the scalp and at the right ear.

Provenance

with Artemis Gallery, Munich, before 1998.
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 2003.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12212-222320.

Literature

Cf. Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 196; see also Cèbe, J.B., La caricature et la parodie dans le monde romain antique des origines à Juvénal, Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d'Athènes et de Rome, 206, Paris, De Boccard, 1966; Dunand, F., Terres cuites gréco-romaines d'Égypte, Paris, Musée du Louvre, département des antiquités égyptiennes; Réunion des musées nationaux, 1990; Ewigleben, C., von Grumbkow, J. (Hrsg.), Götter, Gräber & Grotesken. Tonfiguren aus dem Alltagsleben im römischen Ägypten, Bilderhefte des Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 25, Hamburg, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, 1991.

Footnotes

Such small bronzes with physical abnormalities and exaggerated features served as entertainment, but also had the function of warding off evil.

CONDITION

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LOT 0165