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Roman Bronze Statuette of Young Mercury on the Eagle of Jupiter Roman Bronze Statuette of Young Mercury on the Eagle of Jupiter Roman Bronze Statuette of Young Mercury on the Eagle of Jupiter Roman Bronze Statuette of Young Mercury on the Eagle of Jupiter Roman Bronze Statuette of Young Mercury on the Eagle of Jupiter Roman Bronze Statuette of Young Mercury on the Eagle of Jupiter
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Details

LOT 0122

Roman Bronze Statuette of Young Mercury on the Eagle of Jupiter

2ND CENTURY A.D.

2 5/8 in. (63.3 grams total, 68 mm including stand).

Modelled in the round as a figure of an eagle perching with its head turned to the right; on its back, the god Mercury with caduceus on his left arm and petasos on his head; mounted on a custom-made 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, item 51 (Mercury with caduceus).

Footnotes

The figure of the messenger-god Mercury seated on the pinion of the eagle possibly relates to a mythic incident. Similar imagery was used in respect of Jupiter in scenes where the god was supposed to welcome a newly-deified emperor into the pantheon: see Metropolitan Museum of Art accession no. 32.142.2, for a sardonyx instance of this motif.

CONDITION
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LOT 0122

Roman Bronze Statuette of Young Mercury on the Eagle of Jupiter

Sold for (Inc. bp): £260

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