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LOT 0797
Roman Bronze Mirror
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D
4 5/8 in. (100 grams, 11.5 cm).
Discoid plaque with one polished face, slightly raised rim; cracked. [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. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession number 74.51.5413, for a similar mirror.
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 Blue Cut Glass Bead Necklace
1st century A.D.and laterEstimate: £400 - 600 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £160
Mainly polyhedral and biconical beads with oblate spacers, with later clear glass beads. 89 grams, 73 cm long
with a London, UK gallery 1971. -
Life-Size Roman Marble Lower Torso
Circa 2nd century A.D.Estimate: £20,000 - 30,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £9,850
Modelled in the round in cream-coloured marble; the hips and right leg of a slender male standing beside a column with the lower part of an animal at the base; the figure modelled with narrow hips and waist in contrapposto stance, genitals removed, muscular leg with slender ankle; adjacent column with remains of a branch or spur at the top, developing to a flared base with a crouching hare or rabbit; mounted on a custom-made stand. 101.4 kg total, 99 cm including stand
Ex Paris collection. French gallery, Paris, 1990-2000s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12088-213904.
Despite the loss, the semi-circular rise that separated the ribcage from the abdomen highlights the muscles of a young athlete or a hero. The statue could represent many male heroes or deities (Reinach, 1897, p.210 no.2, 817 no.4), but, by comparison with a similar sculpture in the Brussels Museum, it could refer to a rare image of the handsome and ferocious hunter Hippolytus, son of Theseus and the Amazon Antiope, killed by the curse of his father due to Phaedra’s deception. The presence of the small hare or rabbit at the base of the column could confirm the hypothesis of a hunter hero, and finds its parallel with the small animals (gecko and panther) visible on the Brussels sculpture. -
Roman Bronze Animal Statuette Group
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Mixed group comprising: three-headed dog, Cerberus, on an ellipsoid base; mouse holding an item of food to its mouth; baying hound with head raised. 60.5 grams total, 29- 35 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.
