Late 2nd century A.D. Depicted as a bearded man, seated and naked apart from a hood or cap on his head, with rope binding the hands together and extending around the neck and ankles; pierced vertically at the shoulders; probably a sliding mount for a thong or cord; mounted on a custom-made display stand. Cf. Beutler, F. et al., Der Adler Roms. Carnuntum und der Armee der Cäsaren, Bad-Deutsch Altenberg, 2017, item 1007. 55 grams total, 79 mm including stand (3 1/8 in.).

From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Statuettes of foreign ‘barbarian’ prisoners of this type have been found along the Danube. Their spread coincides with the Marcomannic wars of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The Swabian knot in this warrior’s hair has parallels with the warrior depicted on the contemporary Sarcophagus of Portonaccio, which represents a battle between Romans and Germanic Gauls. [No Reserve]