LOT 0923

Roman Bronze Jupiter Dolichenus Statuette

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

2 1/2 in. (36 grams, 62 mm).

Modelled in the round standing wearing a crested helmet, muscle-cuirass with tunic beneath, short pteruges and greaves; left hand raised to hold a spear, right hand with gladius resting on the forearm. [No Reserve]

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.

Cf. for similar examples Beutler, F. et al., Der Adler Roms. Carnuntum und die Armee der Cäsaren, Bad-Deutsch-Altenburg, 2017, item 65;
for the Jupiter Dolichenus cult see Kusseven, P., The Cult of Iupiter Dolichenus: origins and iconography, Ankara, 2007, p.120, fig.B15.

The cult of Jupiter Dolichenus was a variant of worship of Zeus from Asia Minor whose mystery cult was widespread in the Roman Empire from the early 2nd to mid-3rd centuries A.D., especially in the military. The god is usually represented mounting a bull, with the double axe (labrys or bipennis) in his right raised hand, and dressed in the military attire of a Roman general.