Massive Roman Marble Furniture Leg Lion, Head / Paw

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Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 21, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-02-21 10:00:00 2019-02-21 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-3858
An important one-day auction featuring museum-worthy examples of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, Far East / Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal, Oceanic, Native American, Spanish Colonial, Russian, Fossils, Ancient Jewelry, Fine Art, so much more! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 2nd century CE. A handsome, large marble table leg, also known as a trapezophoron, with a giant clawed foot, leg joint, and smooth body that widens to a fierce lion's head. The mane is carved onto the leg below the lion's projecting snout and radiates outward around the heavy head, which features small ears, deepset eyes, a furrowed brow, and a mouth full of sharp teeth with the tongue between them. Above and behind the lion is a plinth and support. Imagine the size and grandeur of the table that this leg once supported! Size: 8.1" L x 6.75" W x 30.25" H (20.6 cm x 17.1 cm x 76.8 cm); 33.75" H (85.7 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  Feline-headed table supports were a sign of wealth and refinement in ancient Rome, and several examples of different styles are known, although most, unlike this one, have been restored. Perhaps the most famous are the three found with a round marble tabletop in the house of Cornelius Rufus in Pompeii, which stood behind the impluvium, the area of a Roman house usually lined with marble and designed to carry away rainwater. Tables like this one were designed to support a display of vases, oil lamps, and other household treasures. These legged tables were not always tripods - other examples found at Pompeii were two- and four-legged. Fascinatingly, many of these table legs - the ones not frozen in time by volcanic eruptions - took on a life of their own, long after their original owners commissioned them. For example, some have been found from the medieval period in cities that were not in existence during the Roman period, no doubt carried there by people who found the ruins of a Roman villa and were struck by the beauty of the Roman's artwork.
  
  c. f., "Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd. "Reflections of the Past", 2001, pg. 39; a more dramatic but partially restored example at Christie's that sold in 2008 for GBP 84,500 (approximately USD 110,000): https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-roman-marble-table-leg-in-the-5066993-details.aspx; a similar but restored example at the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=459865&partId=1&searchText=Trapezophoron&page=1; and another of very similar style made of black basalt at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK: http://webapps.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/explorer/index.php?qu=roman%20lion%20leg&oid=65544
  
  Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Joe Gerena Fine Arts, New York, USA, acquired in the 1990s
  
  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.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #143887

  Condition

  Intact and unrestored. Weathered surface with some light deposits. Losses to upper plinth and the lion's snout, with surface wear commensurate with age overall.
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