LOT 0135

Roman Marble Figure of a Dancing Pan

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

6 1/2 in. (9 1/2 in.) (1.4 kg total, 16.5 cm high (24 cm high including stand)).

Modelled in the round, comprising the lower torso and the goat-legs in vigorous motion, the left raised and bent, right leg straight with the genitals leaning against the length of the thigh, stub of the tail to the reverse; mounted on a custom-made stand.

From the collection of Jan Onderdijk, Belgium, before 1980.
Acquired by Mr J.R. an antiquarian in the late 1980s.

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.12022-213655.

See Reinach, S., Répertoire de la statuaire Grecque et Romaine, Paris, 1897, p.69, item 1, for Pan in similar pose, and 58, no.5, for images of a satyr in similar position; Arbeid, B. ‘Gruppo di Pan e Dafni’ in Romualdi, A. (ed.), Studi e restauri. I Marmi antichi della Galleria degli Uffizi, II, Firenze, 2007, pp.154-161.

Statues of satyrs, relaxing, dancing, and pursuing nymphs proliferated during the third century B.C., as the cult of Dionysus, god of wine and the pleasures it bestows, grew in importance. The Romans appreciated portrayals of Satyrs and Silens, and borrowed them from Greek art, the god Pan being one of the favourite subjects. This statuette is probably a Roman copy from a Hellenistic original, similar to the specimen from the Garimberti collection, where the god, with the left leg firmly planted on the ground and the other leg raised, is carrying a basket of flowers and fruit on his back.