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GREEK LATE GEOMETRIC BRONZE APPLIQUE OF A SITTING MAN Wearing a long garment with short sleeves. The back of the large head is bald; the arms are raised to shoulder-level. Possibly a charioteer. The large eyes are rendered by ring punches. Oversized, recessed ears close to the cheeks. The flat right hand points forwards with its fingers. A bracelet on the left upper arm. The hand is shaped as a fist or a rounded stump. Reverse smooth with soft step below the shoulders. Intact. The figure adorned a larger vessel, a cup or a bowl. The reverse of the figure with the soft step below the shoulders and the right angled position of the buttocks and legs indicate that the figure was attached to a vessel. Cf., also with regard to the posture and function, a bronze statuette of a man from Sparta (Lamb - 1929, 77, pl. 23a.) For the style cf. a male statuette from Arcadia (Dörig - 1975, no. 183 with ill.) Certain stylistic elements are comparable with an earlier dated pair of statuettes of Zeus and Hera, possibly from Olympia, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, inv. no. 63.2755, Cat. Boston - 1971, 4 no. 2 with ill. If the man's left hand is interpreted as a fist, he possibly represents a charioteer who holds the reins in his left hand. If it is interpreted as a stump, the man could represent an invalid, the figure being given as a votive gift to a healing god with the plea for recovery. Ex Sotheby's New York, May 29, 1987, no. 76 with illus., previously from Mathias Komor, New York. Peloponnese, ca. 700-650 BC H. 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm.) Art of the Ancient World, 2012, no. 35 CBL55 $7,500 Sales |
