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LOT 0142
Roman Bronze Statuette of Eros
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
2 7/8 in. (160 grams total, 73 mm high including stand).
Modelled with the right hand in a fist placed on the brow, left hand supporting a cup on the knee, wings spread to the reverse; mounted on a custom-made stand. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom 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.
Cf. Durham, E., Metal Figurines in Roman Britain, vol. 2, Reading, 2010, pl.44.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Roman Bronze Mount with Dolphin
1st-3rd century A.D.Estimate: £200 - 300 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
Fragment of a vessel with integral dolphin modelled in the round with hatched fins, pellet eyes, looped tail for attachment of a cord or light chain. 94 grams, 72 mm
Acquired in Europe in 1990. European private collection. -
Roman Lead Coffin Panel Fragment with Sphinx
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £845
Decorated with a high-relief pattern comprising a sphinx reclining on a dais surrounded by laurel leaves; ropework and floral border strips with laurel leaves; raised lip below the upper edge. 3.3 kg, 38 cm
Acquired 1970s-early 1990s. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.
This item belongs to types widespread in the Eastern Mediterranean. The panel is decorated with a columned structure, and within each section were symbols of the outer-world, like gorgons, sphinx and dolphins. The sphinx, having a human head and breasts, legs and paws of a lion, and wings of a bird, was generally associated with protecting imperial tombs and temples. -
Roman Bronze Wild Boar Chariot Fitting Pair
Circa 2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,950
Matched pair of chariot fittings, each formed as the head and forelegs of a boar with open mouth and prominent tusks, developing to a crescentic square-section body with knop finial, supported on a column and square-section tiered base; mounted on custom-made display stands. 1.13 kg total, 22.5 cm high including stand
Ex Ancient Art, North London, UK. 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. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12058-212073.
The fittings were possibly part of a decoration of a Thraco-Roman chariot. Sometimes the ends of the yokes were covered with bronze toppers geometrically shaped or decorated with figures of a lion, a wild boar (our example), a goat, etc. Often, instead of these toppers, there were the so-called bronze distributors. Some were without decoration and others had geometric decoration. The most common ones were those sculpted as two opposing panthers (rarely lions).
