A goddess made of porphyry

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The 80 cm high statue that Christie's present to us in New York on June 4 under the catalogue number 264, is in porphyry. It is a goddess of which we are told that she was called Tyche.

Her attitude, legs crossed and an elbow on the thigh, is cool, as it may be said today. Its most remarkable feature is undoubtedly the movement of folds of her heavy clothing.

The mortises allowed to assemble the head, hands and feet, which are supposed to have been in white marble. So the absence of these parts does not prevent that this piece of porphyry is complete.

The date of this statue is contemporary with the first major fashion for porphyry, under the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, ie the late ninth century ab urbe condita, about 1900 years ago. (You must get used to, I preferably date with the calendar in use at the time I am talking about, revisit your Hegira for future articles ! ).

The porphyry, from which the word "purple" was created, remained a symbol of luxury until the end of the Empire. During the X th century of our calendar, a Byzantine emperor was nicknamed Porphyrogenete ( "born in the purple") to honor the fact that he was born to illustrious parents.

The estimate is upon request, so I can not say more before the sale on the price that such an object can achieve .

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The porphyry goddess has not been sold. Its features made it difficult to predict the price. This has probably prompted the seller to ask for too much.

Perhaps it reappears some time on the market, with a real estimate and a reasonable reserve price.