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Contorniates. Late 4th-5th centuries AD. Æ Contorniate. In the name of Vespasian. IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS III, laureate bust right, slight drapery; palm frond engraved to right / Bacchus reclining right in biga drawn by panthers left; to right, cupid flying left, holding grape bunch; to left, satyr standing right, holding a pedum; two maenads in background; in exergue, rhyton, pedum, satyr mask, grape bunch, Selinos mask, and amphora. Alföldi, Kontorniat – (dies 64/15; unlisted combination). Green patina, areas of corrosion. VF. Extremely rare and unpublished in the standard references.
From the W. Toliver Besson Collection. Ex M.G. Collection (Hirsch 355, 12 February 2020), lot 2068; Lanz 151 (30 June 2011), lot 987.
Bacchus was, according to his mythology, the son of Zeus and Semele, reared by the nymphs on Mt. Nysa, and god of fertility and wine. Numerous and somewhat contradictory myths regarding his life and acts exist. Having grown to manhood, Dionysus wandered through many lands, teaching men the culture of the vine and the mysteries of his cult. He was followed by an entourage which included satyrs, maenads, nymphs, and the drunken Silenus. Many festivals were held in his honor; most famous were the Lesser or Rural Dionysia (in late December), the Greater or City Dionysia (in late spring), the Anthesteria (in early spring), and the Lenaea (in winter). Characteristically, the worship of Dionysus was ecstatic. Devotees mystically joined with the god through hypnotic music, dancing, consumption of wine and the raw flesh of sacrificial animals. Various representations show Dionysus as a full-grown bearded man, as a beast, and – as on this contorniate – a delicate, effeminate youth. The Romans identified him with the Italic god Liber and with Bacchus, who was more properly the god of wine. From the music, singing, and dancing at the festivals of Dionysus developed the dithyrambos and ultimately Greek drama. As knowledge of the world to the east expanded with Alexander’s campaigns as far as India, so did the regions from which Dionysus was thought to arrive. In the Hellenistic and Roman periods, he was often depicted as arriving in triumph from India in a car drawn by panthers, as on our piece.
Closing Date and Time: 22 July 2026 at 11:37:40 ET.
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