FINE INTERIORS
A
Roman marble torso of a youth
c.1st century CE, inspired by a Greek original of the 3rd quarter of the 5th century BCE, depicted nude, originally standing in contrapposto with weighted right leg, the left leg slightly advanced, with rounded buttocks below a muscular back emphasised by a sunken depression along the spine, 35cm wide 25cm deep 78cm high, on a bronzed-metal plinth, 196cm high overall £120,000-180,000
Provenance: Sotheby’s, New York, ‘Antiquities’, 9 December 1981, lot 225; Sotheby’s, New York, ‘Antiquities and Isamic Art’, 14 December 1993, lot 40; The Property of a European collector.
The present example is almost certainly inspired by an earlier Greek sculpture known as a kouros. These were free-standing statues of nude male youths, depicted as standard looking straight ahead, with arms down by the sides and slightly advancing left foot. Used as both a dedication to the gods in sanctuaries and as a grave monument in Greek society from the Archaic period (c.700-480 BCE), these figures were not a representation of any one individual, but the ‘idea’ of youth, and embodied many of the aristocratic ideals of the day; most notably, that of ‘arete’, a combination of physical beauty and nobility. For a society that reverred male beauty and youth, the kouros was the artistic manifestation of these cultural ideals.
The methods of definition seen in the present piece correspond to a type of late kouroi of the 5th century BCE, whereby Greek sculptors had attained full knowledge of human anatomy and used it to create harmonious and proportinate depictions of the human body. The lithe torso has a well-defined vertical median line, a semicircular arch defining the lower boundary of the thorax, two transverse divisions depicting the abdominal muscles over round unhooded navel and pronounced iliac crests, overall favouring a more naturalistic appearance in contrast to the geometric and almost abstract patterns seen in earlier types. The stance and build of the torso is particularly reminiscent of the athletic sculptures of the late 5th century BCE Greek artist, Polykleitos, including the Doryphoros or ‘spear-bearer’, today only known from later, mainly Roman, marble copies.
A
Roman marble torso of a man,
c.1st century CE, the athletic body depicted nude, originally stood in contrapposto with weighted right leg, a chlamys resting on the left shoulder, with rounded buttocks below a muscular back emphasised by a sunken depression along the spine,
56cm wide
40cm deep
96cm high, on a bronzed-metal plinth,
182cm high overall
£80,000-120,000
Provenance: Sotheby’s, New York, 25 June 1992, lot 68; Sotheby’s, New York, ‘Antiquities and Islamic Works of Art’, 8 June 1994, lot 65; The Property of a European collector.
This sculpture could represent a god such as Hermes, or a hero such as Meleager or Perseus, based on an earlier type from the 4th century BCE by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles or one of his school. It typifies sculpture from the high-point of classical art, characterised by the contrapposto stance of the original and fully intact piece, with a deeply sat hip and resulting S-curve through the remaining torso. An artistic move developed by Greek sculptors and used throughout the Roman period, these features created dynamic figures designed to be shown to advantage from all angles, as opposed to the front alone, as they were prior to this.
One shoulder is draped with a chlamys, a short cloak similar to a Roman paludamentum, known as the only item of clothing for messengers and young soldiers and also an attribute of Hermes, the messenger god. Other known examples of Hermes display a similarly shaped and hung chlamys, including the ‘Hermes Richelieu’ in the Louvre Museum, Paris, and the Hermes/Mercury from the Andros Farnese collection, in the British Museum; the only difference with these being the present example has the addition of a fibula to secure it in place. Several variants of the pose and styling can be found in the canons of Roman sculpture, as catalogued by Salomon Reinach ‘Répertoire de la Statuaire Grecque et Romaine’ (Tome 1, p.364, p.366, p.367).
For similar examples of Hermes, see British Museum, London, ‘The Farnese Hermes’, no. 1864,1021.1; The Louvre, Paris, ‘Hermès Richelieu, Mercure Richelieu’, no. MR 272/N 829/Ma 573; Vatican Museums, Rome, ‘Belvedere Hermes’, no. 907.
For a similar treatment of the chlamys, see Sotheby’s, ‘Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art’, 2 July 2019, lot 224.
A Roman marble torso of Herakles,
c.2nd century CE, probably the Herakles Epitrapezios or Herakles seated on a rock, depicted nude in a slouched position, 44cm wide
36cm deep 65cm high, on a bronzed-metal plinth, 165cm high overall
£70,000-90,000
Provenance: The Estate of Gerhardt Liebmann; Harvard University Collection; Sotheby’s, New York, ‘Antiquities and Islamic Art’, 14 December 1993, lot 76; The Property of a European Collector
There are several known examples of the seated Herakles in both marble and bronze, in which the present example shares various characteristics. A marble statue of Herakles seated on a rock from the Metropolitan Museum, New York, itself an adaptation of a Greek statue of the late 4th or early 3rd century BCE, shows the hero seated on a rock with the legs (now missing) extended out to the front and the torso is deeply slouched, displaying a strong curvature of the spine and distinctive horizontal creases around his waist, similar to the present example. Another closely related depiction is a marble statuette in the Cleveland Museum of Art, named ‘Herakles Epitrapezios’ (Hercules on the table), it was either designed to be displayed on a tabletop or is named as such because it shows Herakles seated, as at a table, and possibly resting after completing his ‘twelve labours’.
Another key characteristic of the present figure and the comparable ones discussed here, is that it has the appearance of - although still muscular and well-defined - an older, tired man, that corresponds to depictions of ‘the weary Herakles’; possibly the most recognisable being the ‘Farnese Hercules’, a Roman sculpture from c.216 CE, now housed in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, but based on a much earlier Greek bronze version. In this piece, Herakles is shown resting on a club draped in lion pelts, both known attributes of Hercules, with the addition of apples from the garden of the Hesperides from his eleventh labour in his right hand. The addition of draped material around the back of the torso in the present example could be the remnants of his lion pelts, further reinforcing the Herakles attribution, but even if not, it is not unusual for Herakles to be seen with other draped materials. A final element in the present piece that warrants attention is what appears to be the strands of ribbon resting on each shoulder, also seen in other known examples of the older Herakles, including a 1st-century bronze ‘Statuette of Hercules’ in the Art Institute Chicago, which has the addition of an ivy circlet with ribbon fillet training on to the figure’s shoulders.
A
grand tour marble figure after the antique,
late 18th/early 19th century ,Italian, The Farnese Hercules,
39cm wide
33cm deep
92cm high
£6,000-8,000
Provenance: The Property of a European Collector.
A Roman marble sarcophagus fragment,
c.1st-2nd century CE, carved in relief depicting the lower half of a reclining male figure, with a himation casually draped across his lap, his chair with one visible support terminating in a lion paw foot,
35cm wide
12cm deep
29cm high
£10,000-15,000
Provenance: Christie’s, ‘Antiquities’, 14 June 1996, lot 136; The Property of a European Collector.
By the 2nd century CE, Roman funerary practices had widely moved away from cremation in favour of burial which led to the use of sarcophagi, in marble for the most luxurious examples, but also other stones, lead and wood. Typically carved in relief on three sides with imagery that reflected the deceased’s interests and cultural beliefs, mythological iconography in particular was a popular subject, and the scenes depicted were often the same as those chosen to decorate homes and public spaces.
The figure in the present example may represent a young immortal such as Dionysos, although the young god is usually seen seated in a chariot or on a panther or elephant; it is also plausible that the figure represents a heroised young mortal at his own funerary feast.
A Greek Hellenistic marble head of Aphrodite,
c.3rd-2nd century BCE, with softly carved features, large almond eyes and full lips, framed by wavy centrally parted hair,
7cm wide
8cm deep
11cm high, mounted on a metal stand, 20cm high overall
£2,000-4,000
Provenance: Acquired from Bruno Cooper Works of Art, Norwich, 14 November 2000; a private collection.
A Roman marble head of Athena,
c.2nd-3rd century CE, after a Greek original of the late 5th/early 4th century BCE, the goddess with centrally parted wavy hair, swept back to the remnants of a long plait at the nape of the neck, wearing a Corinthain helmet, with almond-shaped eyes and slightly parted lips,
21cm wide
30cm deep
33cm high, on a modern Perspex plinth
47cm high overall
£15,000-25,000
Provenance: Sotheby’s, New York, ‘Antiquities and Islamic Art’, 14 December 1993, lot 42; The Property of a European Collector.
The Greek original of this type was probably made in the late 5th or early 4th century BCE and belongs to a class of helmeted statues of the goddess that are derivative of the Athena Parthenos, a now-lost statue attributed to Phidias that stood in the inner chamber of the Parthenon, Athens.
For a similar example, see Sotheby’s, ‘Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art: Property from the Collection of Axel Vervoordt’, 5 July 2022, lot 136.
An Egyptian painted wood sarcophagus or coffin lid,
Late Period, 26th Dynasty, c.664-525 BCE, with painted stucco overlay depicting a gilded mask, the face with large, wide eyes and framed by a black and gold striped wig and protruding ears, the neck and torso painted with several rows of beaded necklaces,
39cm wide
15cm deep
63cm high, mounted on a metal stand
69cm high overall
£12,000-18,000
Provenance: The Andreasson Family Collection, purchased in Sweden, late 1960s; a private collection, USA; a private collection, London; Apollo Art Auctions, ‘Fine Ancient Art, Antiquities & Militaria’, 13 July 2024, lot 1; a private collection, UK, acquired from the above.
For a similar example, see Pelizaeus Museum Heidelberg, inv. no. 5984
A Roman marble portrait bust of an Antonine prince,
c.140 CE, depicted as a boy, his head turned slightly to dexter, with thick, deeply carved, curling hair and draped in a tunic from the neck, the eyes with incised pupils, raised on a later black marble socle,
27cm wide
19cm deep
41cm high
54cm high overall
£30,000-50,000
Provenance: Lady Geraldine Inglis of Glencorse, believed to have been acquired c.1970s or earlier; thence by descent.
The form, carving and quality of the present example is consistent with other known portrait busts of the Nerva-Antonine period. It is a portrait of a child, apparently a boy, made around the middle decades of the second century CE and features such as the ‘bridges’ in the thick, curling hair and treatment of the eyes, with incised pupils and irises, are apparent in other known works of that date. For an example of the latter, see ‘Marble head of a boy wearing a wreath’, Metropolitan Museum, New York, no. 14.105.1.
The present piece recalls at first glance to be a younger version of an early Type 1 of Marcus Aurelius produced in his teens, about 139 CE, of which some twenty-five examples exist with a small, round, full-lipped mouth, see ‘Bust of Marcus Aurelius’, Capitoline Museums, Rome, no. 279. However, the main difference found in the present example is a lack of the stray locks hanging down the centre of the forehead.
Klaus Fittschen, in his study of portraits of Antonine princes, highlights an almost identical example in the collection at Castle Howard, Yorkshire (plate p.74 a-b), suggesting that it could be an image of Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (d. before 138 CE); one of two sons of Antoninus Pius (86-161 CE) who died very young. The scholarship on the two sons is currently limited, however, there is suggestion that there was a cult of him and his brother Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus (d. before 138 CE).
A named image of Galerius can be seen in a coin of uncertain Greek mint, which bears a noticeable familial similarity to the boy in the present example. In addition, there is another unnamed example that bears striking similarity to the Castle Howard bust, a ‘Portrait head of a child in fine-grained white marble’ in the collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Art of Maremma, Tuscany, with another two identical portraits cited by Wegner in Trier, at the Rhineland State Museum collection, no. 29238, and in Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, no. 3358. With the possible existence of five identical portraits of the young boy, it is reasonable to suggest that, even if the attributions are not definitive at this point, the sitter must have been a person of great significance.
Literature: Klaus Fittschen, ‘Prinzenbildnisse antoninischer Zeit (Portraits of Antonine Princes)’, pp.58, 74.
For other similar examples, see Getty Museum Collection, ‘Relief Portrait of an Antonine Prince’, c.140150CE, no. 76.AA.73.
Fine Interiors
Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 December 2024 at 10am
Viewing Times
Viewing will be held at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE, as follows:
Friday 29 November, 10am - 4pm
Sunday 1 December, 10am - 1pm
Monday 2 December, 10am - 4pm
The auction will take place at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE.
The full catalogue will be released very soon, but in the meantime, please contact the department for any further information fine interiors@sworder.co.uk