Etruria, central Italy, ca. late 5th to 4th century BCE. A matching pair of bronze handles cast via the lost wax (cire perdue) process, the handle plates shaped like lances (lanceolate or leaf-shaped), with each one depicting the head of Silenus who presents vivid facial features including almond-shaped eyes beneath arching brows, an aquiline nose, full cheeks, a long mustache, a full beard, a fringed coiffure, and incised upturned pointy equine ears on the tapering end. Above each Silenus visage is a pair of opposing curled volutes. The upturned handles are elegantly fluted, and there are perforations on each plate for attachment. Set on a stunning stamnos-shaped lucite stand. Size: 5.375" H (13.7 cm); 15" H (38.1 cm) on included custom stand.

Silenus was the mythical teacher and drinking companion of Dionysos (called Fufluna or Pupluna by the Etruscans), the god of wine, winemaking, and the grape harvest - and furthermore, by virtue of the inebriated state brought about by the ingestion of such fermented libations of the vine, the deity was associated with madness, theatre, and spiritual ecstasy. Perhaps these handles were intended for a stamnos used during Dionysian festivities.

For a similar example see no. 201 in D.G. Mitten and S.F. Doeringer, Master Bronzes from the Classical World.

Provenance: private Houston, Texas, USA collection; ex-Christie's December 13, 2013, New York Antiquities Auction, lot 122; ex-Switzerland collection, acquired prior to 1978

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#132770

Normal surface wear with some abraded areas commensurate with age. A few tiny nicks to peripheries, but overall excellent. Handles have developed a gorgeous green patina over the course of history.