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LOT 0178
Roman Bronze Spanish Military Monkey Statuette
4TH CENTURY A.D.
1 3/8 in. (23.9 grams, 34 mm).
Modelled seated on a polygonal base wearing a paenula, the right hand placed on the left shoulder, head tilted to one side, right hand placed on a stela or lantern.
Provenance‘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.
LiteratureSee Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques De Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 262, for a Roman example of small ape statuette.
FootnotesThe monkey is bearing a military sagum with cucullus and is holding beside him a squared lucerna. This representation can be a Roman military mascot or simply a grotesque. In 2001 in Spain, at Llivia, remains of Barbary apes with military belt buckles typically related to the late Roman period were discovered. The discovery of this type of belt buckle in a human grave would suggest that they were once a part of this army, so the fact that some were given to a Barbary ape means that the apes may have played a military role, for example, acted as targets to distract the enemy, or had a combat or defence role. Apes were also a common form of pet in the Graeco-Roman world.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0178
Roman Bronze Spanish Military Monkey Statuette
Estimate £800 - 1,000€930 - 1,160 (for guidance only)$1,080 - 1,350 (for guidance only)
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Roman to Byzantine Bronze Ring Collection
3rd-10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Comprising complete and fragmentary examples, most with decorative bezels, including: glass intaglio; olive branch; zoomorphs and geometric designs, together with other enigmatic motifs. 42 grams total, 15-23 mm
Acquired Stacey's Auctions, Rayleigh, Essex, UK. Property of a Essex gentleman. -
Roman Jasper Gemstone with Mercury
2nd-3rd century A.D.Estimate: £700 - 900 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £389
The god depicted naked, standing, looking left, holding a caduceus and a purse. 0.79 grams, 15 mm
Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Important North West London collection.
After his identification with the Greek Hermes, the Roman artists who realised his images for the Roman magistrates used the specific Greek elements of his personality (the winged low cap petasos, the face of a shaved young man, the caduceus, the winged shoes of Phekasia type) but added the attribute of a purse, specific to Mercury. -
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Roman Bronze Candelabrum Base with Dolphins
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,160
Tripod form with splayed legs, feet formed as scallops and legs as sinuous dolphins, scallops between the tails; central column with fixing spike. 980 grams, 19.5 cm
Ex old English collection. London art market, 1980s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11890-207744.
