Roman Bronze Ring with Quadruped

Carved in the round with dressed hair and braided band with fanned closure above the brow; finely modelled facial detailing; mounted on a custom-made stand. 24.5 kg total, 41 cm including stand



From the collection of L.V. (1950-1960), Paris, France. Collection of Monsieur X. (1931-2017), dispersed for the benefit of the Monaco Red Cross. Private collection, Europe. Accompanied by a copy of French passport no.229089.

The portrait is of an idealised feminine head, probably modelled on an Aphrodite type, with the hair in a bun on the nape, adorned with circles and with a tuft knotted at the top of the forehead, re-used as a portrait of a Roman lady. Many statue types were used both for portraits of women of the imperial family and for the portraits of other women, some of them based on images of goddesses.

Hollow-formed figure of a servant with grotesque facial features, pointed cap and a short tunic, carrying a pouch in the right hand and shoulders an overflowing fruit basket on the left; a large recess between his legs may be for the insertion of an oversized model phallus; pierced lug to rear of neck for suspension. 286 grams, 17.5 cm



Acquired from Galerie Puhze, Freiburg, between 2002 and 2010. From the collection of R. L., Lower Saxony. Ex Gorny & Mosch, auction 300, Munich, no.75. Accompanied by a certificate from Galerie Günter Puhze and a German export licence.

Grotesque and exaggerated figurines were produced in late Hellenistic times, especially in Alexandria. The artisans, fascinated with realism, started to reproduce scenes and figures from daily life, and seemed to have a preference for emphasis on ill and deformed persons. The characters with caricature features are usually referred to as grotesques.

With intaglio putto sitting on a chalice, objects in the field; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 1.07 grams. 14.07 mm



From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.