908 - Bronze figure of Pan, Archaic period, 6th century B.C.

Bronze figure of Pan, Archaic period, 6th century B.C. An ithyphallic figure of the striding, bearded god with goat horns and pointed ears. The slightly bent arms are extended outward to the sides. The half-open hands were originally connected to objects that have not survived. The nipples are depicted as slightly oversized. The thighs are covered with hairy goat fur and merge into goat feet with hooves. The back muscles are strongly stylized and depicted as a furrow split at the top; the hoof of the left foot is broken off. The hooves were connected on the underside by a flat bar that is still partially preserved, on which a rivet hole for fastening is still visible. The surviving portion of the bar hangs from the right hoof and is bent upward. Figures of the same type and nearly identical design have appeared in auctions at Bonhams (April 29, 2004, Lot 67, ex Christos G. Bastis Collection. Formerly on loan to the Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1983–1999) and Sotheby’s (November 28, 1990, lot 79, William Herbert Hunt Collection). In those examples, the figure stands with its left hoof on a round base. All of these figurines, which are of the same type, were likely part of utensils or vessels; however, they now appear detached from that context, functioning as freestanding sculptures. Dark green patina with red oxidation spots. Height 12 cm. CULTURAL HERITAGE! Provenance: Acquired by the current owner on March 5, 2024, at Timeline Auctions, Harwich, lot 0270 (erroneously described there as a “Parthian bronze bestial figure”). Consigned by the heirs of an English collection assembled in the English art market prior to 2000. Condition: II–III