Romano-Egyptian Sphinx Tripod Table Foot 1st century AD A hollow-formed bronze vessel support formed as a lion's claw beneath the nude bust of a female sphinx with nemes headdress with royal uraeus and flanking curled wings; ledge to the reverse; mounted on a custom-made stand. 594 grams total, 21cm including stand (8 1/4"). Very fine condition. Provenance From a private New York collection; on the London art market prior to 2012; formerly in a private UK collection since the late 1970s. Literature Cf. similar item in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, under accession number 2000.660; Archaic Greek period. Footnotes According to the Greeks, the sphinx was a vengeful and treacherous creature with the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a large bird. These elements in combination proved very attractive for the creation of bronze furniture fittings and other items where the spread wings could be extended around a curved or angled surface. The present example dates from the Romano-Egyptian period (30 BC-323 AD), with antecedents in the art of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (332-30 BC).
Romano-Egyptian Sphinx Tripod Table Foot 1st century AD A hollow-formed bronze vessel support formed as a lion's claw beneath the nude bust of a female sphinx with nemes headdress with royal uraeus and flanking curled wings; ledge to the reverse; mounted on a custom-made stand. 594 grams total, 21cm including stand (8 1/4"). Very fine condition. Provenance From a private New York collection; on the London art market prior to 2012; formerly in a private UK collection since the late 1970s. Literature Cf. similar item in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, under accession number 2000.660; Archaic Greek period. Footnotes According to the Greeks, the sphinx was a vengeful and treacherous creature with the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a large bird. These elements in combination proved very attractive for the creation of bronze furniture fittings and other items where the spread wings could be extended around a curved or angled surface. The present example dates from the Romano-Egyptian period (30 BC-323 AD), with antecedents in the art of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (332-30 BC).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
