Roman Figurine: Eros/Cupid figurine with torch

Inv. No.: 82.010
Provenance: Roman (purchased from M. Simotti-Rocchi, Rome)
Date: c. 1st century AD
Height: 90mm
Width: 57mm
 
A figurine of Eros or Cupid shown as a naked dancing or flying winged boy with arms outstretched, holding a torch upright in his right hand. The right leg is broken above the knee, but would originally have served as an attachment point to a lamp or some other decorated object. The figurine weight was born on this leg while the left leg is bent at the knee and the simplified left foot points freely backwards. The torso is upright and has very little anatomical detail apart from male genitals. The torch is shaped like a tapering, slightly curved cone and is grasped at the base by the figurine right hand, again with very little anatomical detail. The left arm is held out to the side, away from the body and the left hand points sideways with the palm facing downwards. Thumb and fingers are indicated on this side although the thumb is missing its tip. The head is turned slightly to his right and has a thick neck and simplified features: circular indents for eyes, a straight nose and a wide gash for a mouth. The hair falls down to his shoulders in wavy curls and there is a spiral curl pointing upwards above the centre of his forehead, a feature that is characteristic of South Italian depictions of Eros. The small wings point backwards with the scalloped edges suggesting feathers. The piece has been cast with little attention given to finishing. The surface is particularly rough around the left heel and two small casting flaws are evident on the back above the buttocks and on the right buttock. The colour varies from dark grey to light green with some orange. Bright metal is evident on the end of the broken left thumb and on the left forefinger.

Function:
The motif derives from literary references to Eros with a torch that suggest his role in the igniting of passions, but this figurine is principally a decorative element from a vessel, lamp or perhaps a candelabrum.

Manufacture:
Cast solid using the lost-wax method.

Bibliography:
Lamb, W., Greek and Roman Bronzes, London, Methuen, 1929, 225 (hairstyle).

Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae

Lafaye, G., "Lmor incendiaire? Mélanges drchéologie et distoire de l?Eacute;cole Française de Rome, Antiquité, 10 (1890), 61-97.

Comparanda:
Comstock, M. and C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan & Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Greenwich, Connecticut, New York Graphic Society, 1971, No. 102 (Graeco-Roman flying Eros figurine).

Hayes, J. W., Greek, Roman, and Related Metalware in the Royal Ontario Museum: A Catalogue, Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, 1984, No. 222 (Cupid figurine attached to a bronze lamp; 5th-6th century AD).

Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (1986), III, 2, Eros 387 (1st century BC bronze figurine with torch); Amor, Cupido 479 (dancing bronze figurine with torch held low in right hand).

(1986), III, 1, "Eros", 850-952, especially 850-852 (by C. Augé and P. Linant de Bellefonds); "Amor, Cupido", 952-1049, especially 952-955, 974-977 ("Section VII. Amor porte-torche") (by N. Blanc and F. Gury).