Skip to main content
Bonhams
Search

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

An Anatolian marble idol
A Mesopotamian clay cuneiform foundation cone with dedication inscription of King Lipit-Ishtar of Isin

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

A small Mesopotamian clay cuneiform foundation cone inscribed for King Sin-Kashid of Uruk
A Neo-Assyrian or Neo-Hittite bronze helmet with pelta-shaped cheek-pieces
A Babylonian agate "eye-stone" bead, inscribed for Nebuchadnezzar II
A large Etruscan Impasto Ware pottery olla
A Roman marble torso of a youth wearing a tunic
A Roman marble head of a satyr
An Attic pottery tankard with geometric decoration
A Greek bronze horse
A Greek pottery alabastron in the form of a greaved leg
A Greek green glazed faience hedgehog aryballos
A Greek bronze hydria with siren handle-plate
A Greek terracotta figure of a woman
A Greek terracotta female figure with a bird perched on her shoulder
An Etruscan terracotta antefix of a satyr
An Etruscan bronze woman possibly dancing
An Etruscan bronze candelabrum
An Etruscan terracotta votive life-size left leg
An Attic black-figure Little Master band-cup with grazing deer and panther
An Attic black-figure eye-cup with gorgoneion tondo
An Attic red-figure trefoil lipped oinochoe
An Attic black-figure lekythos
A European bronze dirk blade
Previous Lot
Next Lot
A Roman marble torso of Thanatos image 1
A Roman marble torso of Thanatos image 2
A Roman marble torso of Thanatos image 3
A Roman marble torso of Thanatos image 4
Lot 70W

Antiquities
1 May 2013, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

£10,000 - £15,000

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Antiquities specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

A Roman marble torso of Thanatos
Circa 1st-2nd Century A.D.
The youthful personification of Death, standing in contrapposto with the weight on his right leg, his left leg relaxed, his right arm crossed over his chest to rest on his left shoulder, holding the end of an inverted torch, 16½in (42cm) high, mounted

Footnotes

Provenance:
American private collection since the 1970s.
With Charles D. Kelekian, New York, in the 1970s.

Literature:
Thanatos was the Greek personification of death. In Roman art, he was often portrayed as a youth with his head bowed and holding an inverted torch, representing a life extinguished. Thanatos more often appears on Roman sarcophagi but free-standing depictions of the god are more unusual. Thanatos was the son of Nyx, goddess of night, and was usually portrayed along with his twin brother Hypnos, god of sleep, whose main attribute was a wreath of opium poppies.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

An Anatolian marble idol
A Mesopotamian clay cuneiform foundation cone with dedication inscription of King Lipit-Ishtar of Isin
A small Mesopotamian clay cuneiform foundation cone inscribed for King Sin-Kashid of Uruk
A Neo-Assyrian or Neo-Hittite bronze helmet with pelta-shaped cheek-pieces
A Babylonian agate "eye-stone" bead, inscribed for Nebuchadnezzar II
A large Etruscan Impasto Ware pottery olla
A Roman marble torso of a youth wearing a tunic
A Roman marble head of a satyr
An Attic pottery tankard with geometric decoration
A Greek bronze horse
A Greek pottery alabastron in the form of a greaved leg
A Greek green glazed faience hedgehog aryballos
A Greek bronze hydria with siren handle-plate
A Greek terracotta figure of a woman
A Greek terracotta female figure with a bird perched on her shoulder
An Etruscan terracotta antefix of a satyr
An Etruscan bronze woman possibly dancing
An Etruscan bronze candelabrum
An Etruscan terracotta votive life-size left leg
An Attic black-figure Little Master band-cup with grazing deer and panther
An Attic black-figure eye-cup with gorgoneion tondo
An Attic red-figure trefoil lipped oinochoe
An Attic black-figure lekythos
A European bronze dirk blade