< Previous40A RECLINING DOG L. 3.5 cm. Bronze, solid cast. Roman, 1st–2nd cent. A.D. CHF 1,600 Slender dog in a recumbent position. Its head is turned slightly to the right and rests on its outstretched front paws. The small eyes, rendered by ring-punches, are opened. The tail hugs the dog’s body. Fine, curved lines are engraved all over the entire body to indicate the structure of the fur. The dog probably originally served as a decorative element attached to a bronze box or similar item. Smoothed underside and with traces of soldering. Intact. Formerly priv. coll. Germany, since the early 1980s. For a close parallel, cf. D. N. Adams, When Orpheus Sang. An ancient bestiary (Paris 2004) 196, no. 192 with some short remarks on the function and interpretation of small-scale statuettes of dogs. 41A CROUCHING MOUSE L. 3.3 cm. Bronze, solid cast. Roman, 1st–3rd cent. A.D. CHF 1,600 Crouching mouse with outstretched front paws. Eyes ring-punched. The ears are pricked. Much of the head and the entire body are finely stippled to indicate the structure of the fur. Two incised lines run along the top of the back from the nape of the neck to the tail. A tang on the smoothed underside served to attach the piece. The beginning of the tail is preserved. Tip of the snout slightly worn. Formerly priv. coll. Germany, since the early 1980s. The motif was popular in the Roman world and bronze statuettes such as this one were frequently used as additions to oil lamps, candelabra, lampstands, and other furniture, probably because of the reputation they had (attested in ancient literature) for gnawing at wicks and drinking lamp oil. Pliny even reports that they nibbled silver and iron (Nat. Hist. 8, 221–222). Their inclusion in furniture created a humorous trompe l’oeil effect. See Ph. Kiernan, “The Bronze Mice of Apollo Smintheus,” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 118, no. 4 (October, 2014) 601–625. For a parallel, cf. D. N. Adams, When Orpheus Sang. An Ancient Bestiary (Paris 2004) 196, no. 205.42A BRONZE RELIEF WITH RABBIT W. 3 cm. H. 2 cm. Bronze. Roman, 1st–2nd cent. A.D. CHF 1,200 Angled bronze element. On its front, a rabbit nibbling grapes in relief. On the upper edge a decorative profile with engraved lines. Possibly a support (e.g. foot) from a utensil. Formerly English art market. For the motif, cf. J. Biers (ed.), A Peaceable Kingdom. Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Milden- berg Collection (Mainz 2004) 62, no. 65 with illus.43A BRONZE FITTING WITH HIPPOCAMPI AND KETOS L. 20.5 cm. Bronze. Roman, 1st–3rd cent. A.D. CHF 3,800 A solid, box-shaped fitting, open along one side, with decoration in relief. One long side fea- tures a ketos (sea dragon) and a hippocampus (sea monsters having the upper body of a horse with the lower body of a fish) facing each other, while a third sea creature (hippocampus or capricornus) is located on the far right. On the other side a single hippocampus is depicted on the left whereas the right half is adorned by a moulding that continues onto the right end. The remaining two faces are undecorated. Traces of oxidized iron on interior surface. Patina and traces of sedimentation could suggest a freshwater environment. From the estate of the Swiss art dealer and collector Elsa Bloch-Diener (1922–2012), Berne, acquired between 1968 and 1983. The maritime iconography of the fitting suggests that it may have come from a ship, although a mil- itary device is also possible. Some famous examples of bronze decorative fittings from the Imperial ships discovered in Lake Nemi (ca. 30 km southeast of Rome) are displayed at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome. 44A FROG APPLIQUE L. 4.3 cm. Silver. Possibly Samnite, ca. 4th cent. B.C. CHF 800 Frog cut out of a sheet of silver. Low knobs indicate eyes and skin. Four short legs each with a circular perforation for attachment. The piece may have been nailed onto an object made of wood or of another material. Formerly priv. coll. A. L., Basel (BL), collecting period ca. 1960s–2000. Frogs’ and toads’ feet were used as decorative elements on Central Italic helmets.Next >