PROBABLY ITALIAN, ROME, CIRCA 18TH CENTURY | ARM

It is likely that the present bronze comes from a dismembered statue. In this respect it is recalls the famous equestrian statue of Henri IV by Pietro Tacca on the Pont Neuf in Paris, which was torn down in 1792 during the French revolution. Fragments of destroyed monuments have captivated people throughout the ages as is witnessed in Shelley's celebrated poem Ozymandias:

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

The present arm is a reminder of transience and a tantalising memorial to a monument now destroyed. Given that it is a fragment it is difficult to date. The interior suggests it was manufactured using the lost wax technique, whilst the patina indicates age.  It probably dates to the 18th century but it is difficult to be certain.