CIRCA 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE MULE HEAD PROTOME
CIRCA 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
Perhaps a key handle, its snout with articulated nostrils and a closed mouth, the elongated ears flush with the sides of its head, the locks of the high ridged mane incised, adorned with an elaborate wreath of ivy and berries, a circular hollow socket at the back
2½ in. (6.3 cm.) long

Provenance

Leo Mildenberg, Zurich, prior to 1996.
The Leo Mildenberg Collection; Christie's, London, 26-27 October 2004, lot 238.

Literature

A.S. Walker, ed., Animals in Ancient Art, From the Leo Mildenberg Collection, Part III, Mainz, 1996, no. III.181.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

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Lot Essay

As Kozloff explains (in Walker, ed., Animals in Ancient Art, p. 119), "The Romans were the first to use rotary keys...with bronze handles, but with shafts and key bits of iron which corroded very easily and have rarely survived. The handles often took the form of animals, equine heads - horses and mules..."

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