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Details
LOT 0133
Roman Bronze Standing Figure of Priapus
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
2 1/2 in. (31.7 grams total, 63 mm including stand).
Modelled in the round standing, wearing a paenula, his two hands holding up the hem to support a pile of fruits on his erect penis; mounted on a custom-made stand.
Provenance
From the private collection of Mr K.A., acquired in the 1990s-early 2000s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Literature
Cf. Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 136, for type.
Footnotes
This is one of the most characteristic representations of Priapus: standing, with long, smooth hair, his head covered by a traveller's pilos (usually made of felt). With his hands he raises his tunic revealing his phallus, a symbol of fertility and good luck, and carries the first fruits of the earth on the hem of his tunic.
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