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A Roman bronze griffin leg image 1
A Roman bronze griffin leg image 2
Lot 110*

A Roman bronze griffin leg

7 December 2021, 12:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £25,250 inc. premium

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A Roman bronze griffin leg
Circa 1st-2nd Century A.D.
With four claws protruding from the padded paw of the anatomically rendered leg, a decorative band around the opening at the thigh, details of fur engraved at the toes, 29.5cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
D.D. collection, London, acquired 1975-1980.
Anonymous sale; Gorny and Mosch, Munich, 17 June 2015, lot 18.
Private collection, Paris, acquired from the above sale.

This large bronze griffin leg likely once supported a luxurious piece of Roman furniture. Ancient Romans liked to decorate their furniture with "griffins or lion's heads...a face or bust, often Bacchus or a Satyr, and occasionally (sic) a complete sculpture" (P. Roberts, Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, London, 2013, p. 86). For further discussion on Roman furniture see Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, especially pp. 86,103, 120-123.

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