CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE SARCOPHAGUS FRAGMENT OF A FALLEN DEER
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
25 in. (63.5 cm.) long

Provenance

Wendell Cherry (1935-1991), Louisville.
Mark Lansburgh (d. 2013), Santa Fe, acquired by 1977.
U.S. private collection, San Diego.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York.
Acquired by the current owner from the above, 2011.

Literature

C. Dauphin, Animals in the Ancient World: The Levett Bestiary, Mougins, 2014, pp. 70-71, 101.

Exhibited

Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2000 Years of Sculpture from the Classical Age to the Baroque: Collection of Mark Lansburgh, 1977.
Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins, 2011-2023 (Inv. no. MMoCA769).

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Claudio Corsi Specialist, Head of Department

ccorsi@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7389 2607

Lot Essay

Possibly a fragment from a sarcophagus with a hunting scene, it depicts the body of a fallen deer, lying prone with tongue hanging out. The remains of a large paw with claws visible on the right edge, would suggest a lion hunt. The body seems to have a spear shaft emerging from its front quarters. For hunt sarcophagi with animals lying along of the lower border, see J. S. Østergaard, Imperial Rome, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 1996, pp. 67-69 and 71-73, nos 29 and 30. For a sarcophagus panel in the Capitoline Museum, Rome (inv. no. 837) with a fallen deer with spear emerging from it's body see Arachne database no. 18435.

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