LOT 0889

Roman Bronze Mars Rider Statuette

2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.

2 3/8 in. (35.6 grams, 60 mm).

Modelled in the round, nude male with legs in straddling pose, left hand thrust forward and right arm raised with hand open; head exaggerated with shoulder-length hair and crested helmet. [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. Boucher, S., Recherches sur les Bronzes Figurés de Gaule Pré-Romaine et Romaine, Rome, 1976, item 354, for type; Mackintosh, M., The Divine Horseman in the Art of the Western Roman Empire,The Open University, 1991, fig.7, bronze rider from Brigstock.

The pseudo-Corinthian or Apulo-Corinthian helmet, here represented on the head of the divinity, was originally a legionary helmet, then became, in the Late Consular Age, an officer's helmet, then a typical attribute of military commanders and then of the war god, Mars. However, this statuette of Mars has strong Celtic connotations, as evidenced by the torques around the neck and the warrior god's hair.