Roman Bronze Seated Greyhound Statuette

With luxuriant long wavy hair and characteristic vertical locks at the forehead, full beard with two large ringlets below the chin, wearing a chiton and a himation draped over the left shoulder, the head surmounted by a corn modius decorated with olive branch in relief, the bust supported on the back of an eagle standing atop an orb with spread wings, the eagle with its head slightly turned to the left, the feathers finely detailed; a finial from a staff or a ceremonial standard. 1.4 kg, 29.5 cm high

Repaired.

Ex private collection, South Germany, 1980. with Gorny and Mosch, Munich, 13 December 2003, lot 74. with Christie's, New York, 8 June 2012, lot 239. 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.11789-206489.

The Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211 A.D.) modelled many of his portraits based on Serapis. But it was under Hadrian that the refurbishment of the statue in the Serapeum increased the demand for small-scale images, like this one, probably made during his reign and used atop of a processional sceptre or standard for the cult of the god.

Showing the figure of a bird enclosed inside a medallion, with edges decorated with a foliage, moulded grooves in the upper part, remains of red pigment on the dividing space. 643 grams, 12.5 cm



Acquired from Millon Arts D'Orient, with lot sticker. Property of a Ruislip, UK, gentleman, by inheritance.

The motif of a bird enclosed in a roundel draws inspiration from Parthian and Sassanid art, and decorated the ceilings of Roman Hellenistic tombs and temples of the Roman East. Our fragment could have been part of the polychrome stucco decoration of the ceiling of a tomb, or a square insert in a temple building. It certainly had to be painted in showy colours, of which clear traces remain in the amaranth red on the right of the fragment and in the pink and blue traces visible on the bird.

Modelled with naturalistic detailing; wearing a saddle and head collar. 13 grams, 34 mm wide



‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection.