ROMAN MOSAIC FRAGMENT
LOWER EGYPT, C. 2ND CENTURY A.D.
Estimate: £3,000 - £5,000
Auction: 13 March 2025 from 13:00 GMT
Description
stone/marble tesserae, depicting three nude Pygmies, two standing and seemingly involved in athletic activities, while the third is seated, holding palm branches
Dimensions
48.5 x 77cm
Provenance
Private collection, France, acquired on the Spanish art market in 1972, thence by descent
French art market, 2018
Bonhams, London, 23 July 2020, lot 65 (part)
Peter Petrou, London
Sotheby's, London, Worlds within Worlds | Works from the Collection of Peter Petrou, 21st September 2021, lot 166
Private collection, London, United Kingdom, acquired at the above
Footnote
A Roman fresco from Pompeii, now in the Archaeological Museum in Naples, depicts Pygmies performing as entertainment at an outdoor banquet on the banks of the Nile.
For another fragment from the same Nilotic mosaic border, also featuring Pygmies, see Sotheby's, London, December 4th, 2018, lot 59.