Lot 7
7
A ROMAN ARCHAISTIC BRONZE HERM HEAD OF HERMES PROPYLAIOS
A ROMAN ARCHAISTIC BRONZE HERM HEAD OF HERMES PROPYLAIOS
A ROMAN ARCHAISTIC BRONZE HERM HEAD OF HERMES PROPYLAIOS
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A ROMAN ARCHAISTIC BRONZE HERM HEAD OF HERMES PROPYLAIOS
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A ROMAN ARCHAISTIC BRONZE HERM HEAD OF HERMES PROPYLAIOS

CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C. - 1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details
A ROMAN ARCHAISTIC BRONZE HERM HEAD OF HERMES PROPYLAIOS
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C. - 1ST CENTURY A.D.
The god with flowing beard and moustache, hair arranged in three rows of archaic-style tight curls, wearing a fillet, pupils recessed for now-missing inlays.
9 in. (23 cm.) high
Provenance
Probably acquired by Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Baronet (1708-1781), West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, circa 1729 or after.
Thence by descent to Sir Francis Dashwood, 11th Baronet (1925-2000), West Wycombe Park.
The Property of Sir Francis Dashwood, Bt.; Christie's, London, 16 March 1977, lot 232 (when it was mounted on a later yellow marble bust, catalogued as 17th Century A.D.).
Swiss private collection.
Antiquities; Christie's, London, 2 May 2013, lot 114.
Literature
Country Life, 13th May 1933, illustration of "The Music Saloon" on p. 495.

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Lot Essay

Sir Francis Dashwood (1708–1781) was an English aristocrat known for his love of classical art, gained during his Grand Tour of Europe. At his estate, West Wycombe Park, he created a striking neoclassical landscape filled with temples and follies, and co-founded the Society of Dilettanti to promote the study of ancient art.

This bronze head of Hermes Propylaios, the Greek god of boundaries and transitions, was once part of the collection at West Wycombe Park. Modeled in the Roman tradition with a blend of Greek archaic and classical features, it also embodies the Neo-Classical fascination with antiquity and the symbolic power of ancient gods.

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