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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]
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. Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 51 (Mercury with caduceus).
FootnotesThe 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.
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AUCTIONS:
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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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Roman Bronze Phallic Pendant
1st-2nd century A.D.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £444
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Acquired in Europe in 1990s. European private collection. -
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Acquired on the European art market in the 1990s. UK collection of a European gentleman.
The type is defined from Ruseva-Slokoska as Eastern Influence, widespread in the 2nd-3rd centuries A.D. The scene possibly alludes to the incident in the Trojan Cycle where Achilles is wounded by an arrow in his heel, the only portion of his body which was not impervious to injury. -
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Restrung graduated group of mainly spherical and annular beads with annular centrepiece. 17.09 grams, 49 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
