BC/AD Sculpture Ancient to Modern
BC/AD Sculpture Ancient to Modern
A ROMAN MARBLE FELINE PAW, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
Lot Closed
July 9, 01:52 PM GMT
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A ROMAN MARBLE FELINE PAW, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
from the bottom of a table leg (trapezophoros) in the form of a feline leg merging into the protome of a lion, panther, lynx, or griffin growing out of an acanthus calyx, the extended claws, knotty articulations, and back tendons finely carved and polished on a thin integral base; no restorations.
Height 8.4 cm.; length 9.2 cm.
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the estate of Torunn Gulliksen Ihlemann (1945–2017) and Jens Thygesen (1945–2009), Copenhagen, acquired in the 1970s/80s
Bruun Rasmussen, Denmark, September 20th, 2017, no. 873/117, illus.
For a related example see http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/objekt/107870; the author notes that “such artificial creations made out of predator legs and heads growing out of calyxes - lion, lynx or, like here, panther - functioned as supports of three-legged tables. Together with two other identical panther supports, this piece originally carried a round marble table top. Tables of this shape drew on models from the Hellenistic period and were also made in bronze or wood. These heavy and therefore immovable, but also weatherproof pieces of marble furniture stood in gardens or in pillared halls surrounding the gardens. Unlike the movable pieces of wood and bronze, marble tables did not serve as dining tables, but rather for the presentation of special objects.“