Property from the Estate of Vera Gordon
A ROMAN MARBLE SARCOPHAGUS LID FRAGMENT WITH CIRCUS SCENE, CIRCA LATE 3RD CENTURY A.D.
Auction Closed
July 2, 04:42 PM GMT
Estimate
7,000 - 10,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from the Estate of Vera Gordon
A ROMAN MARBLE SARCOPHAGUS LID FRAGMENT WITH CIRCUS SCENE, CIRCA LATE 3RD CENTURY A.D.
carved in high relief with a prostrate charioteer wearing a ribbed leather corslet, two race horses, one wearing a lunula pendant, the other mostly missing, and two magistrates each wearing a toga with contabulatio, one holding a mappa or scroll, the heads of two figures carved in low relief in the background; no restorations.
38 by 34.3 by 13 cm.
Vera Gordon, née Denby (1927-2018), Eaton Square, London, acquired over years 20 ago based on her family's recollections
For a related example at Villa Giolitti in Montepulciano see J. Ronke, Magistratische Repräsentation im römischen Relief. Studien zu standes- und statusbezeichnenden Szenen, 1987, p. 735, no. 201, fig. 208 (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/marbilderbestand/3381535), discussed by H. Wrede, Senatorische Sarkophage Roms, 2001, p. 80.