LOT 0667

Romano-Egyptian Terracotta Figure of a Slave with Fruit Basket

1ST CENTURY A.D.

6 7/8 in. (286 grams, 17.5 cm).

Hollow-formed figure of a servant with grotesque facial features, pointed cap and a short tunic, carrying a pouch in the right hand and shoulders an overflowing fruit basket on the left; a large recess between his legs may be for the insertion of an oversized model phallus; pierced lug to rear of neck for suspension.

Acquired from Galerie Puhze, Freiburg, between 2002 and 2010.
From the collection of R. L., Lower Saxony.
Ex Gorny & Mosch, auction 300, Munich, no.75.

Accompanied by a certificate from Galerie Günter Puhze and a German export licence.

Cf. Gods, Tombs & Grotesques - Clay Figures from Everyday Life in Roman Egypt, Exhibition Hamburg, 1991, no.104; Loeben C.E. - Wiese, A. B. Köstlichkeiten aus Kairo! Die ägyptische Sammlung des Konditorei- und Kaffeehaus-Besitzers Achille Groppi (1890-1949), Basel, Antikenmuseum und Sammlung Ludwig; Hannover, Museum August Kestner, 2008, p. 50, fig. 45, for similar.

Grotesque and exaggerated figurines were produced in late Hellenistic times, especially in Alexandria. The artisans, fascinated with realism, started to reproduce scenes and figures from daily life, and seemed to have a preference for emphasis on ill and deformed persons. The characters with caricature features are usually referred to as grotesques.