Auction Highlights
-
Egyptian Granite Head of a Dignitary
Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
Carved with soft facial features and carefully executed cosmetic lines around the eye, earring, and carefully detailed duplex wig with gently wavy curls; likely from the Ramesside Period; mounted on a custom-made stand. -
Etruscan Bronze Statuette of Herakles
Sold for (Inc. bp): £18,200
Modelled in the round with a muscular nude body, his club resting on his shoulder and the hair dressed in rows of tight, close-set curls underneath the Nemean lionskin hood with cloak billowing over his left arm, the paws tied across his chest; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
Roman Marble Portrait of a Boy as Worshipper of Isis
Sold for (Inc. bp): £17,550
Carved head of a prepubescent worshipper of Isis, with soft facial features, long nose, small downturned mouth, heavy-lidded eyes, the whole giving the face a sombre or mournful appearance; the hair textured to indicate a short cut and combed forward across the scalp, sidelock above the right ear; mounted on a 16th century carved breccia upper body with leather cuirass and pteruges to right shoulder, cloak draped across the shoulders and fastened at the clavicle on the right side with a disc-brooch; socle base; some restoration. -
Larger Than Life-Size Roman Bronze Sandaled Foot
Sold for (Inc. bp): £39,000
Modelled in the round and originally part of a monumental statue, the naturalistic right foot encased in a trochades leather sandal with median reversed tongue secured with side straps and thick looped laces; the thick platform sole slightly curved, toes and nails well defined; mounted on a substantial custom-made display stand. -
Life-Size Roman Marble Sleeping Girl from a Sarcophagus Lid
Sold for (Inc. bp): £20,800
Modelled in the half-round, nude with eyelids half-closed in sleep; a drapery partly covering the head and wrapping around the lower body under the hips; the hairstyle similar to those of the Antonine Dynasty, the peaceful face supported by the hands and the ear pierced to accept an earring; iron reinforcing rod to the feet and the right arm's armilla a later replacement; upper head restored in Parian marble. -
Byzantine Porphyry Relief with Cross Surrounded by Two Birds
Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
An imposing panel divided to four sections by a central cross on a stepped pedestal, the lower and upper arm with branch-like extensions; the upper quadrants with a circlet surrounding a palm tree-shaped motif; each lower quadrant with a bird in profile facing back; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
Carved Marble Memento Mori Skull
Sold for (Inc. bp): £16,900
Carved skull on a short neck with musculature and blood vessels; mandible in place with some teeth in sockets, wisps of hair adhering to the dome of the skull; one zygomatic bone partly absent; square-section socle base. -
'The Kelton' Gandharan Head of a Bodhisattva
Sold for (Inc. bp): £24,700
Carved in the half-round head of a Bodhisattva (probably Maitreya) with fine detailing to the arched brow, aquiline nose, neat moustache and full lips; the eyes heavily lidded, urna to the forehead, long open lobes to the ears; the hair in multi-stranded curling locks gathered into an ushnisha with brow-band below; heavily cleaned, conserved, and mounted on a custom-made stand; supplied with original old wooden base with collector's label: 'Head of Bodhisattva / Fine grain schist / Gandhara, Northwest Pakistan / 4th century'.
-
Roman Silver Horse-Headed Bracelet
3rd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Penannular bracelet with D-section shank, paired projecting flanges, horse-head finials placed tête-bêche each with ring-and-dot eye and notched mane. 9.9 grams, 59 mm
Property of the vendor's grandfather, thence by family descent, circa 1985. From the private collection of a New York, USA gentleman. -
Late Roman Glass Pendant with Rearing Lions
Mid 4th-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Discoid in plan with impressed image of two lions rampant flanking a vase with a tree emerging. 1.49 grams, 18 mm
Collected from 1970-1999. From the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK. -
Roman Bronze Figure of an Eagle
Circa 2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,600
Naturalistically modelled in the round, standing with wings folded against the body, head turned left, feather detailing and recessed circular eyes; feet absent. 111 grams, 62 mm
Acquired in Europe before 2001. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11857-206794. -
Roman Bronze Tankard Handle with Drunken Putto on Donkey
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Comprising a crescent plaque above with facing mask a a thumb-pad, lateral scrolls; perpendicular D-section bar with ribbing to the outer face; rectangular lower attachment panel with scrolled upper corners, high-relief putto (?) holding a patera in one hand and tankard in the other, riding an ass side-saddle; mounted on a custom-made stand. 318 grams total, 17 cm including stand
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
This type of bronze handles are usually depicting mythological scenes. The scene of the putto riding a donkey is often linked to Bacchic processions. The face of the character riding the donkey could also correspond to that of Silenus, who in the same processions is often represented riding such an animal. -
Roman Ceramic Oil Lamp Group
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
One with lug handle to rear, discus with filling hole and central panel with high-relief standing figure holding a bow, radiating border to the shoulder; basal ring; one squat with drum-shaped body. D-shaped nozzle, single lateral lug, flared base. 176 grams total, 84-92 mm
Private UK collection. Acquired in the 1980s. Property of a Cambridgeshire gentleman. -
Roman Bronze Military Knee Brooch Collection
2nd-3rd centuries A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Comprising examples with sprung pins or hinged pins and catch plates to reverses. 66 grams total, 29-39 mm
Ex property of an Austrian private collector since the 1970s.
The knee brooches, especially in Britain, are connected to military sites, like the Hadrian’s Wall. The British types evolved after the continental versions appeared in Britannia, possibly having been imported by Noricum’s soldiers. -
Roman Gold Earrings with Pillar Drops
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
Matched pair, each a wire hoop with hook-and-eye closure, domed shield with central filigree ring, radiating granules and braided filigree to the rim; corrugated tubular dangle with granule cluster finial. 5.40 grams Total, 40.15-16.55 mm
Property of an Essex, UK, lady; received by descent from her grandfather. -
Roman Bronze Erotic Mount
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Modelled in the round fragment depicting a couple embracing. 9.14 grams, 35 mm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. -
Roman Early Christian Terracotta Oil Lamp
3rd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £211
With decorated bow shaped nozzle, large central filling-hole surrounded by a dotted ridge, shoulder decorated by geometric patterns; the handle shaped as a human face representing a head of Christ or a saint. 64 grams, 10 cm
Collected from 1970-1999. From the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK.
The lamp seems to be a variant of the type Beit Nattif lamps, usually with pyramidal handle (here substituted by a head of a saint or Christ) and a reddish slip on the upper part. This was the most widespread type of lamps in use in Judaea in the Late Roman Period. -
Roman Bronze Bear-Head Dagger Pommel
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Hollow-formed with acute lower jaw, triangular muzzle, gusset and rounded rim to the socket-mouth. 29.5 grams, 44 mm
Property of a Gloucestershire, UK, collector. Property of an East Sussex, UK, gentleman.
The function of the animal head terminal in the form of a stylised eagle or griffin head found in the canabae at Caerleon was interpreted as a possible pommel for a sword or other weapon due to the rectangular hole at the top of the head for a tang or other attachment. -
Roman Bronze Ring with Bust of Sol Gemstone
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
With inset jasper gemstone, intaglio profile bust of Sol with radiate crown; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 4.36 grams, 21.88 mm overall, 16.61 mm internal diameter (approximate size British I 1/2, USA 4 1/2, Europe 8.07, Japan 7)
Private collection, England. -
Roman Gold Earring Pairs
2nd-3rd century A.D. or earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £1,430
Two pairs of earrings with decoratively twisted hoops, domed plaques and pyramid bulbs embellished with granule clusters; one pair with gold wire spirals to the plaques. 16.97 grams total, 42-50 mm
Acquired between 1950-1970s. Ex Swiss private collection.