A ROMAN MARBLE FOUNTAIN FIGURE OF RECLINING SILENUS, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
Auction Closed
July 2, 04:42 PM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A ROMAN MARBLE FOUNTAIN FIGURE OF RECLINING SILENUS, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
resting on his left elbow and grasping a wineskin pierced for use as waterspout in his left hand, his legs crossed, his right hand on his right upper thigh, the folds of his mantle falling from his left shoulder onto his upper arm, his fragmentary bearded head turned to his left; no restorations.
Height 20 cm.; width 76 cm.
European private collection, 1st half of the 20th century, or earlier (based on cleaning technique)
private collection, Boulogne-Billancourt, France, acquired in the 1960s/1990s
French private collection, by descent from the above (Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, Collin du Bocage, December 12th, 2018, no. 284, illus.)
acquired by the present owner at the above sale
Cf. statues in Trieste (M. Fuchs, Untersuchungen zur Ausstattung römischer Theater, 1987, p. 109f., no. AV1, pl. 46: http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/objekt/80002), and Arles (C. Carrier, Revue archéologique de Narbonnaise, vol. 38/39, 2005/06, p. 381, fig. 25f.). Most other statues of reclining Silenoi show the figure fast asleep in the final phase of inebriation; cf. Fuchs, op. cit., pls. 29, 33, 64.