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53 - BASED ON THE ANTIQUE SEATED MERCURY Bronze cast with black p…
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Estimate €1,800 - €2,000
Sale commission
Description
BASED ON THE ANTIQUE SEATED MERCURY Bronze cast with black patina On a red marble plinth H.: 34.5 cm Italy, late 18th–early 19th century Based on the famous Hellenistic bronze from Herculaneum. The figure belongs to the distinguished lineage of the famous bronze of Hermes at Rest from the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum (Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, inv. 5625), discovered in 1758 during the Bourbon excavations and immediately recognised as one of the supreme masterpieces of ancient bronze statuary. Derived from a Hellenistic prototype sometimes associated with the school of Lysippos, this type became one of the most copied and admired figures of the Grand Tour, reproduced in bronze, marble, plaster and bisque porcelain throughout the late 18th and 19th centuries. The hands, now empty, would originally have held the god’s traditional attributes: in the left hand, the caduceus (κηρύκειον) — a winged staff entwined with two serpents — and possibly, in the open right hand, the marsupium, the small pouch symbolising Mercury’s role as the god of commerce and trade. The stone base is finely carved with marine motifs — fish, shells, a scaly water surface — and incorporates, beneath the god’s left foot, an unusual detail: a circular medallion adorned with a grotesque theatrical mask with a gaping mouth, a Baroque embellishment that gives this version its distinctive character, perhaps a discreet allusion to Mercury as protector of travellers by sea, or evidence of an original utilitarian function (inkwell, incense burner, or part of a table fountain). The bronze rests on a turned plinth of red ‘griotte’ marble with a moulded base, characteristic of the high-quality mountings produced in Naples and Rome for clients undertaking the Grand Tour.
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About the sale FROM CAESAR TO CAESAR
Auction location
Auction time 07/08/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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