Details

LOT 0132

Roman Bronze Statuette of a Putto

1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

4 1/4 in. (104 grams total, 10.9 cm including stand).

Modelled in the round, standing nude with one arm raised above the head and the other bent, probably from a larger ensemble of figures; mounted on a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]

Provenance

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.

Literature

Cf. Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques De Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, items 112-118; see Reinach, S., Répertoire de la statuaire Grecque et Romaine, Paris, 1897, p.430, item 9.

Footnotes

The figure lacks the small dorsal wings which are normally present on a putto, although the curled locks of hair are typical of the type. During the Roman imperial period, children were widely represented in the art of both the public and private spheres. Images of both mortal and divine children appeared in the artworks and furnishings of the home, on the tomb monuments and burial containers associated with the funerary realm.