A ROMAN BRONZE TRITON

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE TRITON
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
Perhaps a fitting from a ship, the muscular figure with his equine forelegs extended, his right arm raised, palm outwards, his left arm lowered, holding an orb, his torso turned slightly to his left, with veins in relief on his lower abdomen, his head turned slightly to his right, his hair a mass of short wavy locks parted at the center and framing his face, with knitted brows, wide-set lidded eyes, the pupils recessed for inlay, a broad nose and an open mouth, a short tail low on his back, a broad fillet over acanthus concealing the merge of his human torso and serpentine body, with short petals extending forward, their tips curved back, and long overlapping petals projecting behind, with two perforations for attachment to the inserted wood shaft, fragments of the wood preserved within the hollow interior, supported by two struts and two dolphins, their heads lowered, joined to a square plinth, the outer sides each with a human finger rising up and bent inward, a large loop, circular in section, on the underside
11¾ in. (29.8 cm.) long

Provenance

with Eli Borowski, Basel, late 1960s.
Private Collection, New York.

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

For a slightly more youthful triton entangled with a hippocamp see no. C20 in Kunze, Meisterwerke Antiker Bronzen und Metallarbeiten aus der Sammlung Borowski, which is considered Hellenistic, circa early 2nd century B.C. For an appliqué of a Nereid riding a Triton, his eyes similarly articulated, see no. 129 in True and Kozloff, A Passion for Antiquities, Ancient Art from the Collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman, which is identified as Augustan, circa 1st century B.C.

More from Antiquities

View All