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LOT 0160
Roman Statue of the Goddess Hygeia with Later Restorations
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D. AND LATER
45 3/4 in. (95 kg total, 115.5 cm high).
Carved in the round, standing on a rectangular base, wearing a floor-length tiered robe with exposed right shoulder and arm; separate left hand extended, holding a patera; right hand gripping the head of a snake wound around the arm; separate head with finely modelled hair bound in a chignon; repaired and restored.
ProvenanceBelieved to have been in the collection of George Adolphus Gray (c.1850), captain of a merchant vessel and avid collector.
Acquired by the present owner circa 15 years ago, reportedly recovered from a skip.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12967-244537.
Cf. Paribeni, E., 'Enciclopedia dell'Arte Antica, vol. IV, s.v. 1961, Igea, pp.97-99; Antichità di Vílla Doria Pamphilj, Roma, 1977, p.40, n, 4, Tav. VI; Moreno, P., Stefani, C., Galleria Borghese, Milano, 2000, p.178, n.11.
FootnotesAsclepius, son of Apollo and Coronis, was the Graeco-Roman god of medicine, healing and prophecy. He had two daughters with Epione, the goddess of soothing - Hygeia (goddess of health) and Panacea (goddess of healing).
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0160
Roman Statue of the Goddess Hygeia with Later Restorations
Sold for (Inc. bp): £13,000
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Roman Black Glass Bead Necklace String
1st-4th century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £85
Restrung designer necklace string of annular, oblate and other types with pendant centrepiece. 24.3 grams, 44.5 cm
London, UK, collection, 2000s. -
Late Roman Imperial Porphyry Fragment
4th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
Formed as a parallelepiped with round corner having a possibly later polished side and the other three sides straight and round, with signs of carving; probably from an Imperial sarcophagus or monument; mounted on a custom-made stand. 9.85 kg total, 36.5 cm including stand
Acquired from the private collection of a Somerset gentleman who was related to Sir Arthur Evans. From the private collection of a UK gentleman since before 2005.
For the Romans, porphyry was the Imperial marble par excellence, and from Constantine the Great until the end of the 5th century, but probably also later, it was used to create sarcophagi for the emperors and members of the Imperial families. This particular stone was connected with the Imperial family because of its red colour, recalling the violet and red shades of the purple (porphyra), the precious colour assigned only to emperors and their relatives. In Constantinople, a room of the Imperial palace was called Porphýra, located on one of the palace terraces overlooking the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus. It was perfectly square in shape with a pyramidal ceiling and was entirely covered in purple porphyry speckled with white dots: this was the room where the empresses gave birth to the heir of the Roman Empire, called Porphyrogénnētos, meaning ‘born in the purple room’. Porphyry was widely used for building churches in the Christian Empire, and Justinian exhausted the supplies from Egypt by building the Great Church of Hagia Sophia, where still today a great amount of this material can be seen. The impressive Imperial sarcophagi were kept in the Church of the Holy Apostles, as well as the great porphyry sarcophagus of Constantine the Great, of which only a small fragment survives today in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul. -
Large Romano-Celtic Bronze Trumpet-Whorl Chariot Mount
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
D-shaped in section with outer ring surrounding four radiating trumpet-shaped elements with spurs connecting to the frame; two holes for mounting rivets to reverse. 159 grams, 83 mm
Ex David Miller, Hemel Hempstead, London, UK. From the private collection of a Uxbridge, UK, gentleman, formed since the early 2000s. Accompanied by a handwritten catalogue slip.
