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YOU ARE HERE:>>REAL or FAKE>>Is ths genuine, section3, page 5.

 From  Alvermanneke

4th October 07

Two statuettes of the Roman "wolf god" Faunus, the second of which I find suspect.

Two weeks ago I bought this  statuette of Faunus:

It had been offered on eBay ("Buy now") for more than a month, priced at nearly 400 Euro (about 600 dollars), when it was suddenly auctioned and I was able to buy it for only 62 Euro (so, if it was not a bargain, it certainly wasn't a great loss either).

The object was offered with the following description (in German):

.

Faunus: bronze, heigth 4,3 cm, Roman Imperial, 1st to 4th cent. A.D."

It was sold by the eBay shop Kunst-der-Antike, AGORA,. Since this seller does not appear in the list of fraudsters and appears to have a genuine shop in Vienna, I believe he is 100% trustworthy.

Prior to bidding on the item, I send an email to the

Since I am currently doing research for a book on the ancient cultic tradition of the werewolf among the various Indo-European peoples in antiquity, I was very happy to acquire a genuine artefact, so I hoped, that bears testimony to that tradition among the Roman people. Actually, I am not a collector of antiquities, it is the meaning of the object that fascinates me, and I am certainly no expert, but I do care for authenticity and would be a little disappointed if this Faunus image turned out to be false

A few days ago my brother alerted me to a similar object, which had just been auctioned on eBay and which was sold for 168 Euro. The seller is a so called "Power seller", Elysium Ancients, who does not appear on the fraud list, but about whom I cannot find any information on eBay. Elysium Ancients sells mostly coins and appears not to know what the object is, for it was offered with the following vague description:

"A VERY UNUSUAL CELTIC/ ROMAN FIGURE NOT SURE WHICH IF ANY ONE HAS MORE INFORMATION I WOULD BE INTERESTED TO KNOW 3.7 CMS IN HEIGHT FOUND IN GERMANY AUTHENTICITY GUARANTEED AS WITH ALL MY ITEMS"

Here are the pictures that went with it:

I can't see anything really obviously wrong with it.

As a probably votive object it cannot be rare....though I cant remember ever coming across one myself.

There is a similar one  at The Staten Island Museum

Bronze; Etruscan, 4th-3rd century BCE.
MacDonald Bequest

These figurines represent Etruscan worshippers, holding phiales to pour libations to the gods. The figures wear crowns and togas, the latter garment an Etruscan legacy to Rome. These figurines were probably dedicated at an Etruscan sanctuary as ex-votos or offerings aimed at winning the help of a god or goddess.

From rialtos

5th October 07

I've seen these before and I've never been sure if it's some Celtic god or what. I've even seen it described (and possibly correctly) as a Romano-Celtic Mercury, with the strange "horns" being stylizations of the wings, and holding some  abstraction of the caduceus. I'm just not sure who it is meant to be, nor am I sure which - if any - are ancient and which aren't. The fact that something is crudely executed with little or no wear doesn't bother me, especially if it's a votive piece that just sat in some shrine. The rough edges seem cause for concern, although not really conclusive in terms of fakery.

REAL OR FAKE. Is this a genuine piece? >>>> section 4