Roman Bronze Phiale with Boss

Modelled nude with legs thrust forward, left arm forward from the body, right arm held to the rear with hand forming a fist, diadem to the brow; mounted on a custom-made stand. 71 grams total, 78 mm including stand



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.

Unlike the British Museum statuette, our figure is represented in the heroic nudity of the warrior on horseback, even if the position is identical. It is very likely that the statuette represents one of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, and perhaps it was part of a pair of twins on horseback.

Finely carved head of a young satyr with arched brows, pointed ears and tousled curly hair, his short rounded horns projecting from the hairline, lips drawn back in a mischievous smile with the tip of his tongue protruding to his right; head turned to his right, eyes slightly downcast; traces of wattles to each side of the jaw, tip of nose abraded, forelock chipped; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 18.2 kg total, 40 cm including stand



Christoph Bernoulli (1897-1981), Basel, possibly acquired from Münzen & Medaillen AG, Basel; thence by descent. 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 no.12188-222442.

The head seems a work of the 2nd century A.D., derived from Hellenistic prototypes, likely based on a Greek original of the 4th or 3rd century B.C. traditionally associated with the work of Praxiteles, Skopas or Lysippos, depicting a standing Pan playing the flute with his legs crossed. However, both the present head and the Princeton example, always after Hellenistic prototypes of the mid-2nd century B.C., are close to the statue of the so-called Young Centaur signed by Aristeas and Papias, in bigio morato, which was found at Tivoli in Hadrian’s Villa and is now in the collection of the Capitoline Museum (inv. No. MC0656).

One with lug handle to rear, discus with filling hole and central panel with high-relief standing figure holding a bow, radiating border to the shoulder; basal ring; one squat with drum-shaped body. D-shaped nozzle, single lateral lug, flared base. 176 grams total, 84-92 mm



Private UK collection. Acquired in the 1980s. Property of a Cambridgeshire gentleman.