Massive Roman Marble Trapezophoron - Table Leg

About Auction

Live

Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Jun 4, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-06-04 10:00:00 2020-06-04 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-5185
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

View Full Catalog (393)

• Lot Description
  Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 2nd century CE. A handsome, large, marble table leg, also known as a trapezophoron, capped by a lion's head. The lion's body curves proudly outward, rising from a wide central point that looks like a column made of heavy stone blocks. A floral display, carved artfully to be openwork in places, bursts outward from this column. The fierce lion's head has a dramatic mane carved onto the leg below its projecting snout, its thick, curled locks in relief against the smooth neck. The heavy head features small ears, deepset eyes that may have once had an inlay, a furrowed brow, and an open mouth. A small, embedded piece of iron at the very center suggests that the piece once had some kind of projecting attachment - the Romans often attached different pieces of marble to each other using iron support bars. Above and behind the lion is a plinth with a sunken area. Imagine the size and grandeur of the table that this leg once supported! Size: 9" L x 9" W x 29.5" H (22.9 cm x 22.9 cm x 74.9 cm); 34.75" H (88.3 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 round marble tabletop in the house of Cornelius Rufus in Pompeii, which stood behind the impluvium, the area of a Roman house usually lined by 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 at 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 artwork.
  
  Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Gorny & Mosch auction #140 (June 21, 2005, lot 364); ex-private German collection, 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.
  
  #146257

  Condition

  Lower end is lost; what remains is unrepaired/unrestored. Weathered surface with some reddish soil deposits. Losses to upper plinth, one small area of the floral decoration around the midsection, and the lion's snout and eyes, with surface wear commensurate with age overall. Nice preservation of form with some fantastic details remaining, as around the mane.
• Shipping Info

  • All shipping is handled in-house for your convenience. Your invoice from Artemis Gallery will include shipping calculation instructions. If in doubt, please inquire BEFORE bidding for estimated shipping costs for individual items.

• Buyer's Premium
  • 26.50 %