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_900x900.jpg "Roman Marble Head of Dionysus")
_200x200.jpg "Roman Marble Head of Dionysus")
.jpg "Roman Marble Head of Dionysus")
LOT 0117
Roman Marble Head of Dionysus
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
19 in. (15.8 kg total, 48 cm high including stand).
A Roman copy of a Greek original, wearing a crown of leaves and corymbs, hair falling in straight lines underneath the diadem; full beard composed of four rows of thick tufts with drilled holes; slightly open mouth with a fleshy lower lip; low cheekbones and hollow cheeks; large almond-shaped eyes with lachrymal duct; mounted on a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceEx private French collection, early 1960s.
Acquired by the current owner in 2011.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Marina Mattei and Dr Laura Maria Vigna.
Accompanied by a copy of a French cultural passport no.129940.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11791-206395
See McDowall K.A., The so-called 'sardanapalus, in Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1904; Gasparri C., in LIMC III, 1,1986, s.v.Dionysos, 414-421; La Rocca E. (ed.), Il sorriso di Dioniso, Roma 2010; La Rocca E., Hermes-Thoth e Dioniso redentore, Dall'Egitto dei Tolomei al tardo- antico. Studí sul mosaico della Casa di Aion a Neo Paphos, Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma, Supplementi, 28, 2021.
FootnotesThe head finds comparable parallels with a series of herms representing philosophers, lyricists and the god Hermes, deriving from Greek originals of the 5th century B.C. The reworking of these typologies in a cultured environment is due to the diffusion of sculptures linked to the idea of speculative otium and withdrawal into the bucolic world of which Dionysus was guardian and protector. The typology of the representation associates him with the concept of continuous rebirth and fertility of nature, typical of Dionysus Lenaeus.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0117
Roman Marble Head of Dionysus
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000€34,800 - 46,400 (for guidance only)$40,500 - 54,000 (for guidance only)
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Roman Bronze Spanish Military Monkey Statuette
4th century A.D.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £444
Modelled seated on a polygonal base wearing a paenula, the right hand placed on the left shoulder, head tilted to one side, right hand placed on a stela or lantern. 23.9 grams, 34 mm
‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection.
The monkey is bearing a military sagum with cucullus and is holding beside him a squared lucerna. This representation can be a Roman military mascot or simply a grotesque. In 2001 in Spain, at Llivia, remains of Barbary apes with military belt buckles typically related to the late Roman period were discovered. The discovery of this type of belt buckle in a human grave would suggest that they were once a part of this army, so the fact that some were given to a Barbary ape means that the apes may have played a military role, for example, acted as targets to distract the enemy, or had a combat or defence role. Apes were also a common form of pet in the Graeco-Roman world. -
Roman Black Onyx Gemstone with Oxen
1st-2nd century A.D.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £278
Engraved with two bulls lying side by side, one with the head in profile, the other facing, tree to the field. 0.62 grams, 11 mm
Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Important North West London collection.
The iconography of two bulls derives already from Achaean models, like the black onyx example in the Metropolitan Museum (Richter, 1920, pl.2,no.3). The model was inherited by the classical world, and inherited from the Greeks by the Romans (Furtwängler mentions gemstones in carnelian, nos.5547-5548-5549 at the Berlin Museum). -
Large Eastern Roman Bronze Bust-Shaped Steelyard Weight
Circa 3rd-4th century A.D. or laterEstimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £400
Modelled in the round as a facing female with head turned slightly right, with semi-naturalistic facial detailing and dressed hair; lead-filled. 4.2 kg, 13.5 cm high
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
Steelyard weights in the form of human or deities faces were not uncommon in the Roman period (see SWYOR-DA4426, OXON-4391B5, HAMP-BD4D67 and NARC-7A7B81 on the PAS). These were generally filled with lead and had iron or copper suspension loops projecting from the top of the head.
