A ROMAN BRONZE BALSAMARIUM

CIRCA 2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE BALSAMARIUM
CIRCA 2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
In the form of a bust of a nude youth, wearing a necklace supporting a central cylindrical pendant, his head turned to his right, with thick hair arranged in horizontal bands of wavy locks, his articulated eyes with raised lids and thin, notched brows, the separately-made crown of the head serving as the hinged lid, the foliate handle terminating in two duck heads that thread through two oblique loops at top of the head, the separately-made pedestal foot now lost
10¼ in. (26 cm.) high

Provenance

French Private Collection.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 1989.

Literature

C.C. Vermeule and J.M. Eisenberg, Catalogue of the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Bronzes in the Collection of John Kluge, New York and Boston, 1992, no. 88-99.

Lot Essay

This is a particularly fine example of a large class of balsamaria in the form of a young divinity or mortal. Some may depict young satyrs, identifiable only by the goat skin worn over one shoulder. That some are thought to be depictions of Antinous, Hadrian's favorite who died in A.D. 130, seems incompatible with the late 2nd to early 3rd century A.D. date. For related examples see no. 99 in Kitzinger, Handbook of the Byzantine Collection and nos. 259-262 in Arce, Los Bronces Romanos en España.

More from THE MORVEN COLLECTION OF ANCIENT ART

View All