107 - A ROMAN BRONZE STATUETTE OF APOLLO WITH PATERA AND QUIVER, 2ND CENTURY

A ROMAN BRONZE STATUETTE OF APOLLO WITH PATERA AND QUIVER, 2ND CENTURY Roman Empire. Finely cast, the youthful god depicted nude and advancing with one leg extended forward, the right outstretched hand holding a shallow patera, the left with a laurel branch. A diagonal baldric crosses the torso, supporting a quiver at the back. The youthful face with round eyes and a straight nose, the head turned slightly to one side. His hair is arranged in short wavy locks gathered at the crown, with longer tresses falling over the shoulders. Provenance: Belgian art trade. A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above in the 1990s, and thence by descent. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, casting irregularities, rubbing, and remnants of gilding along the crevices. The bronze with a naturally grown, smooth patina with scattered malachite and cuprite encrustations. Weight: 72 g Dimensions: Height 8.1 cm Literature comparison: Compare a closely related solid-cast Roman bronze statuette of Apollo, 11.2 cm high, in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris, inventory number AM 745, published in Les bronzes antiques de Paris, Musée Carnavalet, 1989, catalogue number 7, p. 53. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s New York, 13 December 2013, lot 164 Price: USD 3,500 or approx. EUR 4,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A Roman tinned bronze Apollo, circa 1 st-2 nd century AD Expert remark: Compare the related nude figure of Apollo holding a phiale, with similarly idealized youthful features and carefully arranged hair. Note the tinned surface, absence of the quiver and branch, and slightly larger size (10.8 cm).