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Details

LOT 0788

Roman Bronze Statuette of Mercury

2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.

3 3/8 in. (66 grams total, 85 mm including stand).

Standing nude with winged petasos to the head, in contrapposto pose; 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. Boucher, S. & Tassinari, S., Musée de la Civilisation Gallo-Romaine a Lyon: Bronzes Antiques I. Inscriptions, Statuaire, Vaisselle, Lyon, 1976, item 49, for type.

Footnotes

Mercury was the god of trade and industry, whose principle shrine in the city of Rome was at the Circus Maximus. Equated with the Greek Hermes he became the god of tradesmen and merchants. He was also the god of thieves and was associated with healing, mainly in Gaul, where he had a number of important temples connected to sacred springs, This statuette was probably a votive offering to one of this temples.

CONDITION

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AUCTIONS:

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LOT 0788

Roman Bronze Statuette of Mercury

Sold for (Inc. bp): £117

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