288, Lot: 712. Estimate $5000. Sold for $3000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Pair of bronze chariot or wagon fittings. Roman, circa AD 130s. A matching pair, each in the form of a youthful bust emerging from a scalloped support. Heads slightly to their right, the eyes wide and intense, the hair rendered in thick locks in the round. Loop at back. Height: 12.2 cm. See Art of the Ancient World vol. XX (2009), no. 51 and Antikensammlung, Munich, inv. no. SL30 for parallel examples. Green patinas. Damage to chest of one fitting, otherwise well preserved. Very rare as a pair.

Such figures are thought to depict Antinoüs, although the provincial craftsmanship does little to capture the famed beauty of Hadrian’s favorite. Nonetheless, the artist managed to incorporate the “essentials” of the portraiture of Antinoüs: the youthful heroism expressed through nudity and the careful consideration given to the thick hair. The scallop was a symbol of the Nile, where Antinoüs drowned under mysterious circumstances, and was associated with Osiris, one of a number of deities that Antinoüs became syncretized with.