Three Roman Bronze Appliques

Three ancient Roman bronze appliques, each one in the form of the head of a Maenad with expressionless face, high arching eye brows and hair adorned with a garland of flowers; eyes inlaid with silver and glass.

Ca. 2nd - 3rd century AD.

Height: 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm).

Maenads (also Bacchantes) were the frenzied female members of the retinue of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine and revelry (Roman: Bacchus). Maenads, literally “the raving ones,” were often depicted in Greek art as wild and ecstatic women who indulged in sex, violence, and intoxication.

Formerly in a European private collection, acquired in 1980.

Published: J. Eisenberg, Art of the Ancient World, (2013), no. 39.

Inv#: 7663

Guaranteed Authentic

$9,500