Lot Essay
For an identical example, perhaps from the same cista, see no. 73, pp. 160-161 in True, et al., A Passion for Antiquities, Ancient Art from the Collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman.
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THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
AN ETRUSCAN BRONZE CISTA FOOT
CIRCA EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.
Details
AN ETRUSCAN BRONZE CISTA FOOT
CIRCA EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.
In the form of a winged youth, perhaps Usil, an Etruscan sun god, depicted nude but for winged boots, in the Knielauf position with his right knee down, the legs in profile as if in motion to his left, his body turned frontal, the torso twisted, the sleek musculature rendered, his arms extended to his sides, the left with the palm facing forward, the right with the palm back, his sickle-shaped wings expanding behind, the large wings and wings of his boots with the feathers incised, his head turned slightly to his right, a beaded fillet across the crown of his head, his hair a striated fringe framing his face and falling in a flaring mass onto his shoulders, the god positioned above a row of symmetrically-opposed openwork wave surmounting a feline paw, with fleshy pads under the claws, rising up into an Ionic column capital with an incised triangle and beaded abacus, a flange at the back of the foot to support the cista, the figure curved to fit the cista, which can be estimated to have been approximately 8 1/8 in. diameter
5 15/16 in. (15.1 cm.) high
CIRCA EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.
In the form of a winged youth, perhaps Usil, an Etruscan sun god, depicted nude but for winged boots, in the Knielauf position with his right knee down, the legs in profile as if in motion to his left, his body turned frontal, the torso twisted, the sleek musculature rendered, his arms extended to his sides, the left with the palm facing forward, the right with the palm back, his sickle-shaped wings expanding behind, the large wings and wings of his boots with the feathers incised, his head turned slightly to his right, a beaded fillet across the crown of his head, his hair a striated fringe framing his face and falling in a flaring mass onto his shoulders, the god positioned above a row of symmetrically-opposed openwork wave surmounting a feline paw, with fleshy pads under the claws, rising up into an Ionic column capital with an incised triangle and beaded abacus, a flange at the back of the foot to support the cista, the figure curved to fit the cista, which can be estimated to have been approximately 8 1/8 in. diameter
5 15/16 in. (15.1 cm.) high
Provenance
with The Merrin Gallery, New York, 1994.