Bidspirit auction | Roman Bronze Goddess Applique

Roman Bronze Goddess Applique - 2nd-3rd century A.D.. The goddess Tyche or Cybele with a facing female bust wearing a mural crown, braided hair cascading to the sides, high-relief lenticular eyes, and small slit mouth, two iron fixing rivets; the lower part with detailed necklace of pendants, catena decorative chain, lateral braids, ferrous fixture; old collector's label 'BR.APP.064' to verso; repaired and mounted on a custom-made display stand. Cf. Beutler, F. et al., Der Adler Roms. Carnuntum und der Armee der C?saren, Bad-Deutsch Altenberg, 2017, item 69, for type, referred to as Isis-Venus; for Cybele with a mural crown see Reinach, S., Repertoire de la statuarie Grecque et Romaine, Paris, 1930, p.369; see also Metropolitan Museum of Art inventory no.47.100.40, for a bronze statuette of Tyche with mural crown. 3.66 kg total, 20.5 cm including stand (8 1/4 in.). Private collection of Mr S.A., Switzerland, 1990s, thence by descent. The crown that characterises the bronze applique (corona muralis = wall crown) was a military decoration using symbolism from the Hellenistic age. Often associated with Tyche (Fortuna), the crown was also an attribute of the goddess Cybele, particularly when made of wood. However, the presence of a necklace similar to a late Roman statuette of Tyche at the Metropolitan Museum of Art seems to point more to the first identification. This bronze applique was probably used as decoration for a chariot used in a procession for the goddess, or as a furniture decoration. (For this specific lot, 5% import VAT is applicable on the hammer price.)