The Roman god Mercury is represented here as a young naked man with wings both on his ankles and on his characteristic hat (petasos). Most Roman household shrines, especially in Gaul and Italy, had such bronze statuettes of Mercury, who served as the protector of wealth. The money pouch is a typically Roman attribute of the god, while the balanced and relaxed position (contrapposto) is reminiscent of the widely copied figure of Hermes made by the Classical Greek sculptor Polykleitos.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Statuette of Mercury
Period:Imperial
Date:c. 2nd Century CE
Culture:Roman
Medium:Bronze
Dimensions:Height: 12.7cm
Classification:Bronzes
Credit Line:Purchase, Patricia and Marietta Fried Gift, 2023
Object Number:2023.561
By 1873, collection of Sir Francis Cook (1817-1901), 1st Baronet, 1st Viscount of Monserrate, Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, UK; 1901-1905, collection of Wyndham Francis Cook (1860-1905), London, UK; 1905, inherited by his wife, Mrs. Wyndham Francis Cook (née Frederica Evelyn Stillwell Freeland, 1857-1925); until 1925, collection of his son, Humphrey W. Cook (1893-1978), London, UK; July 14th, 1925, acquired by Spink & Son, purchased through Christie, Manson & Woods, London (lot 103); [with Spink & Son, London]; until 2021, collection of Patricia Edwina Victoria Knatchbull (née Mountbatten), 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma, Baroness Brabourne (1924-2017) and family, Newhouse, Mersham, Kent, UK; March 24, 2021, acquired by Charles Ede, purchased through Sotheby’s London (lot 124); [2021-2023, with Charles Ede, Ltd., London]; acquired in 2023, purchased from Charles Ede, Ltd., London.
Michaelis, Adolf. 1882. Ancient Marbles in Great Britain. no. 21, p. 628, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Reinach, Salomon. 1910. "Quatre mille statues antiques." Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, 4. no. 1, p. 94, Paris: Ernest Leroux.
Christie's, London. 1917. An Important Collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities, and antique and Renaissance gems. The property of Humphrey W. Cook, Esq. Being a portion of the Celebrated Collection formed by the late Sir Francis Cook, Bart.. lot 103, p. 21.
Sotheby's, London. 2021. The Family Collection of the later Countess Mountbatten of Burma. lot 124.
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The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
