Huge / Impressive Roman Mosaic of a Stag Hunt

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Antiquities | Asian | Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Sep 27, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-09-27 10:00:00 2018-09-27 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Antiquities | Asian | Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/antiquities-asian-ethnographic-3469
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• Lot Description
  Roman or early Byzantine, the Levant, late Imperial Period, ca. 5th to 6th century CE. A massive, lively mosaic depicting a dog chasing a stag. The bulk of the image is of the dog, her body stretched out as she runs, her tail streaming behind her and her ears flattened back as she pursues her quarry. The stag is close ahead, its body also stretched out in full flight. Round shapes in the background as well as grape vines and leaves give the impression that the animals are chasing each other through a field. Size of mosaic: 69" W x 19" H (175.3 cm x 48.3 cm); size of frame: 73" W x 24" H (185.4 cm x 61 cm)
  
  The iconography of the stag hunt is a common one in Roman mosaics, used to illustrate the wealth and prestige of the owner of the mosaic. Elite Romans reveled in hunting not as a way of putting food on the table, but as a way to demonstrate that they had the leisure time to pursue it. Hunting dogs also enjoyed special affection, immortalized by a number of Roman writers. For example, in the "Cynegetica" (ca. 283 to 284 CE), a poem dedicated to Caracalla, the author describes a type of hound "for the swift chase of gazelle and deer and swift-footed hare," perhaps the exact type depicted here.
  
  Mosaics (opus tesellatum) are some of our enduring images from the Roman world, not only for their aesthetic beauty, but also because they reveal what Romans chose to depict and see every day decorating their private and public spaces. In the Roman province of Syria, which encompassed most of the ancient Near East/Levant, mosaics seem to have developed as a common art form relatively late, with most finds coming from the 3rd century CE or later. Syria was one of Rome's wealthiest provinces, but it was also far removed from Rome itself and Roman culture was overlaid on enduring cultural traditions from Hellenistic Greece and the great civilizations that came before it. For example, Antioch-on-the-Orontes (modern day Antakya, Turkey), was the capital of northern Roman Syria, and its excavations in the 1930s revealed more than three hundred mosaic pavements. This mosaic was probably in a private home.
  
  Provenance: private Davis collection, Houston, Texas, USA; ex-Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger Auction 277-280 - Ancient Objects, Coins, and Medals (February 8-11, 2012, lot 546); ex-private old French collection
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
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  #138424

  Condition

  Mounted on concrete with a metal frame. Small losses around edges and a few missing tesserae throughout, but the image is very clear and no detail is lost. Otherwise in very nice condition with light encrustation in between the tesserae.
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