A large bronze statue of a reclining doe, legs tucked under the body, head held up and with ears back; hole to the back for attachment of separate statue.

PROVENANCE:
Property of a German gentleman; acquired before 1989. Accompanied by a positive X-Ray Fluorescence metal analysis certificate.

LITERATURE:
For a similar example see the bronze deer from the Villa of the Papyri near Pompeii and now in the Museo Archeologico Nazionali di Napoli.

FOOTNOTES:
The statue may have been a decorative piece for the garden of a villa, as is seen in similar examples from Pompeii, Herculaneum and the surrounding area of Vesuvius. The doe was also sacred to both Diana, goddess of the moon; statues of the goddess accompanied by deer were common, and they were also shown accompanying the cult image of Diana from the temple at Ephesus. The deer was also sacred to Juno Caelestis, consort to the eastern deity Jupiter Dolichenus, and she is shown standing on the back of a deer on votive reliefs and statues, such as that from Corbridge on Hadrian's Wall.