A marble fragment, carved with a naiskos, an enthroned woman...

Hammer

£700

A marble fragment, carved with a naiskos, an enthroned woman within, possibly representing the goddess Vesta, holding a staff and a spherical object, probably Roman, circa 1st – 4th Century A.D, 30.5cm high (excluding stand) x 30 cm wide (at fault)

NB. Vesta was the the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion and as the goddess of the hearth she also presided over the baking of bread, so perhaps the spherical object she holds represents a loaf of bread.

Provenance: Ex Alison Barker (1951-2021) Collection, Chichester, West Sussex.