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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]
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. Boucher, S. & Tassinari, S., Musée de la Civilisation Gallo-Romaine a Lyon: Bronzes Antiques I. Inscriptions, Statuaire, Vaisselle, Lyon, 1976, item 49, for type.
FootnotesMercury 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.
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 Gold and Garnet Earring
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Formed as a cell with fluted rim, set with an irregular garnet cabochon, hook-and-eye fastening to the reverse. 1.02 grams, 12 mm
From the H.N. collection, Milton Keynes, Berkshire, UK, 1990s. -
Very Large Roman Bronze Oil Lamp with Actor's Mask
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,720
With an elongated body and a long nozzle with a rounded tip; raised rim enclosing the upper face with an ivy lef-shaped filling hole; wide handle terminating to a female tragic mask with a palmette below the chin, the hair dressed in ringlets with two rows of curls to the brow, eyes inlaid with silver; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 1.97 kg, 28 cm wide (4.31 kg total, 27.5 cm high including stand)
Old private British collection, pre-1965. Property of a gentleman; acquired in the UK before 2000. Accompanied by a copy of an old black and white photograph and an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12033-215424.
The lamp is of Loeschke type XX (Walters type 6), with many of these lamps made in Italy, but some are also found in the East. The tragic mask appears frequently on lamp handles, probably as an apotropaic subject. The mask was an inseparable element of unity with the past and religious context. -
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Discoid pendant with cell, inset cabochon garnet, integral loop above. 0.16 grams, 8 mm
Ex property of a late Japanese collector, 1970s.
