Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 0788
Roman Bronze Tankard Handle with Drunken Putto on Donkey
2ND CENTURY A.D.
6 3/4 in. (318 grams total, 17 cm including stand).
Comprising a crescent plaque above with facing mask a a thumb-pad, lateral scrolls; perpendicular D-section bar with ribbing to the outer face; rectangular lower attachment panel with scrolled upper corners, high-relief putto (?) holding a patera in one hand and tankard in the other, riding an ass side-saddle; 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. Tassinari, S., La Vaisselle de Bronze, Romaine et Provinciale, au Musée des Antiquités Nationales, XXIXe supplément de Gallia, Paris, 1975, items 152, 173, 173, 178, for type.
Footnotes
This type of bronze handles are usually depicting mythological scenes. The scene of the putto riding a donkey is often linked to Bacchic processions. The face of the character riding the donkey could also correspond to that of Silenus, who in the same processions is often represented riding such an animal.
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine 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:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
LOT 0788
Roman Bronze Tankard Handle with Drunken Putto on Donkey
Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
RELATED LOTS
-
.jpg)
Roman Bronze Flying Phallus
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £546
Amuletic model phallus with swept lateral wings; mounted on a custom-made stand. 99 grams total, 67 mm high including stand
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. -
Roman Amber Glass Bead Necklace String
1st-4th century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £39
Restrung designer necklace of graduated irregular oblate and other beads. 31.4 grams, 37.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
.jpg)
Roman Marble Head of a Young Man
2nd-3rd century A.D.Estimate: £3,500 - 4,500 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,250
Worked in high-relief with hairstyle typical of the transitional period from the Consulate to the Empire; oval face with a prominent forehead, oval eyelids and clearly defined lines around the eyes; hair arranged in vertical lines combed back from the forehead; pronounced lips, typical rendering of the wide auricles; the lower part of the tunic visible with a well defined round edge around the neck; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 5.94 kg total, 22.5 cm high including stand
Acquired from Gallery Gryphos, Munich, 1992. European private collection. Accompanied by 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 search certificate number no.11996-211878.
The head was probably pertinent to a series of funerary family portraits. It has realistic modelling of male features, which speaks of a portrait in reduced dimensions or a reference to a well-known person in the environment where it was exhibited. The portrait is worked only on the front, leaving the back, as well as the lower part of the sculpture, roughly treated.
