CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE PANTHEISTIC HARPOCRATES
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.
4 5⁄16 in. (10.9 cm.) high

Provenance

Nicolas Koutoulakis (1910-1996), Paris and Geneva; thence by descent to the present owner.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve. This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The youthful god, son of Isis and Osiris, is here shown in his distinctive pose bringing the right index finger to his mouth. In this pantheistic version, however, different attributes, normally associated with other deities, have been added such as the wings of Cupid, the winged sandals of Mercury, Fortuna's cornucopia and Hercules' lion skin. For another example of pantheistic Harpocrates with wings see T. T. Tihn, B. Jaeger and S. Puolin, 'Harpokrates', in LIMC, vol. IV, Zurich and Munich, 1988, no. 11b.

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