1st century B.C.-2nd century A.D. A youthful and muscular bronze statuette of the god Mercury (Greek Hermes) standing nude with his weight resting on his right leg, left leg slightly bent and the heel raised; his hair dressed in short curls, wearing the wings from petasos, naturalistic anatomical detailing to his torso, calf muscles and face; mounted on a custom-made display base. Cf. Reinach, S., Repertoire de la statuarie grecque et romaine, Paris, 1930, p.151, no.10, for the type; Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, items 27ff., forparable examples; Menzel, H., Die Römischen Bronzen aus Deutschland I Speyer, Mainz, 1960, no.8; cf. The Metropolitan Museum, accession numbers 20.190 and 06.1057, for similar. 322 grams total, 14.5 cm high including stand (5 5/8 in.). Found 1920-1930. French family collection, Seine et Marne since the 1920s. Property of a French collector. Apanied by an original French passport number 162088 dated 6 February 2015. Apanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is apanied by AIAD certificate no.11315-190955. Mercury was the god of trade and industry, whose principle shrine in the city of Rome was at the Circus Maximus. Originally he was one of the gods of riches and profit and it was not until he was equated with the Greek Hermes that he became the god of tradesmen and merchants. He was also the god of thieves and was associated with healing mainly in Gaul where he had a number of important temples connected to sacred springs. The piece is realised in a good classic style, due to the features of the face and the workman of the hair, as well as the beautiful body proportions, and can be dated to the early imperial period. For this specific lot, 5% import VAT is applicable on the hammer price [A video of this lot is available to view on Timeline Auctions .]