A Bronze Figure of Aphrodite, Roman Imperial, 1st/2nd Century A.D.

the goddess standing with her weight on the left leg and raising the separately-cast and now missing folds of her garment with her raised right hand, and wearing sandals, short-sleeved chiton clinging to her body and leaving the left shoulder bare, and himation draped across her hips, her finely engraved centrally-parted wavy hair parted in the center, bound in a cylindrical diadem, and tied in a chignon, two locks escaping over the temples, her earlobes pierced, the eyes with traces of overlay.

said to have been found on the island of Melos in the Aegean
Félix-Bienaimé Feuardent (1819-1907), Paris, circa 1900
Henry Osborne Havemeyer (1847-1907) and Louisine W. Havemeyer (1855-1929), New York
by descent to Doris D. Havemeyer (1890-1982), New York
Estate of Doris D. Havemeyer (Sotheby's, New York, June 10th-11th, 1983, no. 120, illus.)

H.O. Havemeyer Collection; Catalogue of Paintings, Prints, Sculpture and Objects of Art, [Portland, Maine], 1931, p. 457
Louisine Havemeyer, Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector, New York, 1993, S.A. Stein, ed., pp. 20-21, 58, and 310

Good and as shown, drapery falling from her left upper thigh was cast separately and attached, as were arms and missing drapery folds she was raising in her right hand, lower edges of drapery chipped in back, some minor chipping on tips of toes and of fingers, surface somewhat pitted and worn in areas, right arm appears to be repaired.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

For related marble statuettes of Aphrodite Ourania, in which the goddess rests her left elbow on an archaistic statuette, see A. Adriani, Repertorio d'arte dell'Egitto greco-romano, vol. I, Palermo, 1961, no. 43, fig. 103 and "Aphrodite ," in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, vol. II, Zurich, 1984, p. 43, no. 314, illus.

The industrialist Henry Havemeyer's sugar-refining business was one of the most successful of its kind in late 19th century America. The prestigious art collection which he formed together with his second wife Louisine Havemeyer, partly on the advice of their friend Mary Cassatt, was in large part bequeathed to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1929. In addition to a broad selection of French 19th Century paintings, including several by Impressionist artists, the collection comprised many Asian and Islamic works of art as well as a few Classical and Egyptian antiquities; they were housed in the no longer standing Havemeyer mansion at One East 66th Street in New York, the interior decoration of which was a work of art in itself (see Alice C. Frelinghuysen, in Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection, New York, 1993, pp.173-198). In her memoirs, published long after her death, Louisine Havemeyer recalls that the present bronze was displayed in the Rembrandt Room, or Library (see Frelinghuysen, op. cit., fig. 30, and F. Weitzenhoffer, The Havemeyers Impressionism Comes to America, New York, 1986, p. 74), which had been designed for the display of the Havemeyer's Dutch Old Master Paintings:

            "Below the central light upon the library table was a bronze statue, about two feet high, a small `Venus de Milo' which Mr. Havemeyer acquired during one of our visits to Paris. My husband told me that M. Feuardent, an acknowledged expert, had sent him a note to call as he had something interesting to show him.
            `When I reached there,' said Mr. Havemeyer, "I found the old gentleman very much excited over the refusal of the directors of the Louvre to buy the bronze statue which he had at last succeeded in bringing to Paris after much time and trouble. He told me the directors of the Louvre pleaded lack of funds, but that they should buy it at any cost for the reason that that the missing arm of the great marble statue was here intact, for this was undoubtedly a small replica of the Venus of Milo. It was a practice of the Greeks to make small copies or variants of their renowned statues and sell them for domestic purposes. This bronze Venus had been found on the island of Milos, and Feuardent was enthusiastic over the historic and artistic value. `See,' he said, `she was doing her hair and about to look at herself in a mirror.'
            `I didn't care what she was doing,' continued Mr. Havemeyer, 'I considered it very beautiful and I bought it. I think you will approve of it and it will look well in our library I am sure.' It did, and it is there today.
            I think Feuardent that morning must have been in an aggressive mood toward the Parisian amateurs, for he also sold to Mr. Havemeyer a precious coin which a customer had refused as 'too dear,' but which years after he begged me to sell him `at any price.' Alas, he had not learned Mr. Havemeyer's axiom that great works of art can never supply the demand and that they do not become cheaper, therefore beware of an opportunity to pass you by. I placed beside our Venus two Greek helmets, one of 300 B.C. and the other of 500 B.C. [the earliest one now in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 29.100.488; see J. Mertens, in  Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection, New York, 1993, p. 118, pl. 107]. Often I noticed my husband passing his hands over the rounded surface of the helmets and I knew that he, at least, thoroughly appreciated the marvelous workmanship'" (Louisine Havemeyer, op. cit., pp. 20-21).
            "I have written of actors, statesmen, authors, but under what head shall I classify one rare guest whose visit made a memorable afternoon in my recollections of my library? She was Helen Keller, blind and deaf --- a wonderful girl who triumphed over all her misfortunes, sustained as she was by another woman almost as wonderful as she, Miss Sullivan, her teacher, her guide, her friend. I was asked to receive the blind girl, as Helen had taken a great fancy to my daughter Adaline, whom she had met at a friend's house, and she wanted to meet her friend's mother. She also longed to have the privilege of passing her hands over my marble statues and bronze Venus. It was her only means of comprehending and enjoying objects" (Louisine Havemeyer, op. cit., p. 58).