A Marble Strigillated Dionysiac Sarcophagus, Roman Imperial, Early Severan, circa A.D. 193-200

of rectangular form, carved in front at one end with a dancing satyr holding a child, an animal at his feet, and at the other end with a dancing maenad playing the tambourine next to a pillar or altar surmounted by a theater mask, the central panel decorated within an elaborate architectural frame with Dionysos standing between Pan and a maenad, a fragmentary panther and basket with serpent at his feet, each of the short sides carved in shallow relief with a female sphinx.

Private collection, North Andover, Massachusetts
Edward R. Greenwood (1930-) and Brigitta Greenwood, North Andover, Massachusetts, and Inks Lake, Texas acquired from the above in 1959
Estate sale of Brigitta Greenwood, Inks Lake, Texas
Patti Howell, Texas, acquired from the above in 2006

Front repaired from at least two large fragments and held together with iron clamps, many of the old restorations on the figures now lost, head of Dionysos and maenad on central panel and the head and thigh of maenad on side panel restored, as well as the lower part of the frame on either side of the spiral columns, the underside deeply drilled under each one of the inner sides of the strigilated panels for insertion of an iron pin, these pins were inserted to reinforce the interior of the front of the sarcophagus but they have rusted due to water infiltration, expanded, and applied pressure to the marble around, sarcophagus drilled in six places, channel on top of each of the short ends filled with marble blocks.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

For a strigillated sarcophagus of early Severan date showing Dionysos flanked by two figures in the central panel and a closely related dancing satyr holding a child on one of the side panels see F. Matz, Die Dionysiche Sarkophage, part IV, Berlin, 1975, no. 283 (Rome, Villa Medici).

For a slightly later (ca. 220s A.D.) strigillated sarcophagus showing a similarly draped maenad on Dionysos's right in the central panel, and with a closely related figure of a maenad playing the tambourine (kymbalistria) on one of the side panels, see Matz, op. cit., no. 284 (Vatican, Cortile Ottagonale).

For the only other recorded example of a figure of Pan standing on Dionysos's left in the central panel of a strigillated sarcophagus see Matz, op. cit., no. 300 (Rome, Quirinale; Pan is now eroded but still visible in a 16th Century drawing).