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LOT 0188

Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,690

ROMAN BRONZE 'THAMES' STATUETTE OF VENUS
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
5 3/4 in. (249 grams total, 14.5cm including stand).

The goddess modelled nude in contrapposto stance; the right hand extended to hold a patera (absent); the hair dressed in a chignon with diadem and two lateral twisted locks; loops to the ears for attachment of separate earrings; eyes modelled oversize to accept silver appliqués; mounted on a custom-made stand. [No Reserve]

PROVENANCE:
Found by Nigel Mills, Thames, UK.
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.

PUBLISHED:
Mills, N., Roman Artefacts found in Britain, Chelmsford, 1995.

LITERATURE:
Cf. Boucher, S. & Tassinari, S., Musée de la Civilisation Gallo-Romaine a Lyon: Bronzes Antiques I. Inscriptions, Statuaire, Vaisselle, Lyon, 1976, item 65, for type; see also Reinach, S., Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, Paris, 1897, p.359, no.2.

FOOTNOTES:
In this type of sculptures of the goddess, the deity appears diademed, entirely naked, her hair curled behind a chignon from which braids fall to her shoulders. In her left hand, missing here, the goddess usually carried a fruit, flanked by a marine figure wrapped around a pole.

CONDITION
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