1st-2nd century AD. A silver statuette of Priapus standing naked, wearing only a short cloak arranged on his shoulders, holding the robe from the corners, exposing his exaggerated genitalia under an offering of flowers, finely-detailed head with the hairstyle and beard of a Greek philosopher; in lifting his cloak, he reveals his enormous phallus, creating a vivid connection between fertility and abundance. See Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 136; and Dunleavy C.A., The Image of Priapus: Ambiguity and Masculinity in Roman Visual Culture, Bristol, 2018. 12 grams, 36mm (1 1/2"). Property of a European collector; acquired on the European art market in the 2000s. Priapus was an ancient Greek and Roman deity, usually represented as a small bearded man with a huge phallus. According to the Romans, he was born from the illegitimate love between Aphrodite and Zeus (for the Greeks the father was Dionysus) and was transformed into an obscene character by Hera, jealous wife of the king of Olympus. Priapus was a symbol of sexual instinct and male fertility and was protector of nature and guardian of gardens and flowers.