Roman Silver Denarius Bracelet

Second style, painted in red, blue and cream and decorated in contrasting colours. 631 grams total, 6.3-10.5 cm



Acquired in the 19th century. Ex Jeger collection, Switzerland.

These small fragments, with analogies with the fragments from Pompeii, seem to belong to the second style of Roman painting, where several simpler walls had an entirely yellow socle or a yellow socle with a darker main zone (more common in the middle phase of the style).

Modelled in the round in cream-coloured marble; the hips and right leg of a slender male standing beside a column with the lower part of an animal at the base; the figure modelled with narrow hips and waist in contrapposto stance, genitals removed, muscular leg with slender ankle; adjacent column with remains of a branch or spur at the top, developing to a flared base with a crouching hare or rabbit; mounted on a custom-made stand. 101.4 kg total, 99 cm including stand



Ex Paris collection. French gallery, Paris, 1990-2000s. 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.12088-213904.

Despite the loss, the semi-circular rise that separated the ribcage from the abdomen highlights the muscles of a young athlete or a hero. The statue could represent many male heroes or deities (Reinach, 1897, p.210 no.2, 817 no.4), but, by comparison with a similar sculpture in the Brussels Museum, it could refer to a rare image of the handsome and ferocious hunter Hippolytus, son of Theseus and the Amazon Antiope, killed by the curse of his father due to Phaedra’s deception. The presence of the small hare or rabbit at the base of the column could confirm the hypothesis of a hunter hero, and finds its parallel with the small animals (gecko and panther) visible on the Brussels sculpture.

With pierced lobe below the legs, arched body forming the bow. 14.9 grams, 36 mm



Found near Corbridge, Northumberland, UK. Property of a Gloucestershire, UK, collector. Property of an East Sussex, UK, gentleman.