2 Ancient Relief Figures - Roman Apollo & Scythian Nike

Roman, Imperial period; and Eastern Europe, Pontic steppe, Scythian culture. A pairing of two miniature relief figures drawn from opposite ends of the classical world. The first, in buff terracotta with traces of brown glaze, is the tondo fragment of a Roman oil lamp: Apollo stands nude in a loose contrapposto, hip cocked, one arm crossing his body as he leans against a column and steadies his lyre, the god of music caught mid-repose. The second is a cast lead votive plaque of Nike, winged goddess of victory, from the Scythian orbit of the northern Black Sea. Fragmentary, lacking head and lower legs, she nevertheless retains the sweep of feathered wings, outstretched arms, and the taut curve of a body in flight. Small lead votives of this kind were produced in quantity and likely dedicated at sanctuaries. Two figures. Roman lamp discs carried a compressed pictorial repertoire, and Apollo leaning on a column with his lyre is among its more elegant formulas, derived ultimately from Hellenistic statuary of the Apollo Kitharoidos type. The lamp-maker's mould reduced a monumental pose to a few centimeters without losing the shift of weight through the hips. Lead votives are a signature of the Greek colonial cities of the northern Black Sea, above all Olbia, where the metal was cheap, abundant through trade, and low-melting enough to be cast in simple open moulds. Wreaths, figures, and small plaques were produced by the hundreds and left as inexpensive dedications, a devotional economy in which a worshipper of modest means could still leave a goddess behind. Nike, victory personified, was a natural choice in a frontier world where Greek settlers and Scythian neighbors traded, fought, and intermarried along the same shoreline. Item # 204803

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