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LOT 0124
Roman Polychrome Wall Painting Fragment
MID 1ST CENTURY A.D.
6 3/4 in. (1.26 kg total, 17 cm high including stand).
Decorated with a frieze of foliage and volutes from which a blossom is springing, the image framed by a green band of arrows, an ochre and cream line border below; background painted in magnificent rosso pompeiano (Pompeian red); mounted on a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceFrom a European collection formed in the 19th century or earlier, based on the custom-made tooled leather box similar to another fragment kept in a case of similar manufacture with a label reading 'Fragment de Pompéi provenant de la vente Préat 1868' sold at Sotheby's New York, 12 December 2013, lot 84.
Mitsukoshi department store, Nihonbashi, Tokyo, by 1974.
Japanese art market, 1974-1978.
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 11826-207724.
Cf. Gullini, G., La pittura romana, Torino, 1969, pp.72ff.; Gullini, G., Problemi di pittura romana, Torino, 1972, pp.60ff.; Andreae, B., Cangik, H., De Martino, F., Grilli, A., Gullini, G., Princeps Urbium, cultura e vita sociale nell’Italia Romana, Milano, 1991, fig.126; Maulucci, F.P., Pompei, Guida Archeologica degli scavi con itinerari, piante e ricostruzioni, Napoli-Milano, 1987; Berg, R., Kuivalainen, I., Domus Pompeiana M. Lucretii, IX,3, 5.24, The inscriptions, Works of Art and Finds from the Old and New Excavations, Vantaa, 2019, fig.7, p.215; for Roman painting of this type in general see Henig, M., A Handbook of Roman Art, a comprehensive survey of all the arts of the Roman world, New York, 1983, p.96.
FootnotesOur painted stucco was probably part of a decorative frame, like that visible in the cubiculum of the Villa of P. Fannius Sinistor, in Boscoreale, which is earlier but represents a model of continuity through the decoration of the Roman walls. This filling of the tablinum and other rooms with ornamental plant-type columns and panels decorated with leaves and plant scrolls is found in Pompeii in certain houses, such as that of Caecilius Jucundus.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0124
Roman Polychrome Wall Painting Fragment
Estimate £4,000 - 6,000€4,640 - 6,960 (for guidance only)$5,400 - 8,100 (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 Bronze Folding Tripod with Bacchus Busts and Panther
2nd century A.D.Estimate: £40,000 - 60,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £16,667
With three extendable legs each topped with bust of Bacchus, his long hair collected in a crown of vine leaves and branches, wearing a panther skin exomis; the feet formed as feline paws; the middle part of the frontal leg formed as an S-curve topped with a panther's head with open jaws. 9.9 kg, 101 cm
Traces of gilding over all the whole surface, fine condition, restored, excessively rare.
Ex collection of Dr Djafari (1900-1981), Kaiserslautern, Germany. 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.11801-206499.
Folding tripod stands were well known in the ancient world, in both Greek and Roman contexts. These folding supports for tables, bracers and cauldrons are known finds from important excavations in the Roman world, like Pompeii. The purpose of such folding stands varied: during the meal they were placed between the triclinary beds, and bowls and application plates were hung to the hooks at the back of the holders, here shaped like the heads of a Bacchus. They were also used for the fire in military encampments, or in the temples of the gods. Others were used as the support frames for bronze bowls, either for washing or for ritual purposes. Many were offered as funerary gifts, like the splendid example in the chariot grave of Környe. Roman folding tripods were also used in religious rituals (here clearly linked to the cult of the god of wine, as shown by the presence of panthers) and sacrifices. Burnt offerings and libations were offered to the gods in cauldrons that would have been attached to the hooks behind the heads on the upper section. -
Roman Bronze Standing Lion Statuette
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Modelled in the round with naturalistic detailing, standing with head turned to the right. 12.3 grams, 26 mm wide
‘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.
