Auction Highlights
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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'.
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Roman Mosaic Glass Fragment Collection
1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Comprising fragments of black glass decorated with green and yellow rosettes surrounded by white pellets, from the same plate. 40.7 grams total, 16-65 mm
From the collection of Mr N.A., Brussels, 1970s. -
Roman and Later Bronze Ring Collection
1st-20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Comprising examples with: enamelled bezels; seal bezels; an archer's thumb ring; bezel set with a 'jewel'; hoops with inscriptions around the exterior; hoops with geometric schemes around the exterior; plain examples. 42 grams total, 17-27 mm
Found Berkshire, UK. -
Roman Bronze Sitting Squirrel Statuette
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Modelled in the round with naturalistic detailing, sitting upright nibbling a nut. 11.7 grams, 25 mm
‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection. -
Roman Military Bronze Belt Mount Collection
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Including La Tène scrolls, rectangular panel with pelta and other types. 46 grams total, 32-53 mm
Property of the vendor's grandfather, thence by family descent, circa 1985. From the private collection of a New York, USA gentleman. -
Roman Bronze Scalpel Medical Instrument
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Round-section handle with bulb finial and ribbed baluster, narrow swept blade. 38.4 grams, 20.9 cm
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 Bronze Fragment Group
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Comprising: the majority of a foot with a rectangular socket; a face fragment showing the nose, left eye and part of the right eye; a lozenge-shaped mount with a low-relief image of a standing figure, one rivet in situ. 43.3 grams total, 34-60 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Bronze Eros Statuette Fragment
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Modelled in the round, the left hand of Cupid-Eros gripping the stem of a bloom with three radiating leaves; mounted on a custom-made stand. 46 grams total, 72 mm 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. -
Roman Gold Banded Ring
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
Formed as a plain band with two rolled rims. 2.15 grams, 19.78 mm overall, 16.90 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M, USA 6, Europe 12.46, Japan 12)
Ex property of a late Japanese collector, 1970s-2000s. -
Roman Eagle Gemstone in Silver Ring
2nd century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £338
Domed intaglio of an eagle in flight over a baseline; later silver ring. 4.45 grams, 25.52 mm overall, 19.60 mm internal diameter (approximate size British S 1/2, USA 9 1/4, Europe 20.63, Japan 19)
Private collection, England. -
Roman Green Glass Double Balsamarium
4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Comprising two parallel tubes joined at the base and sides, each with flared rim and covered with fine glass trails, applied lateral loops to the rim and handle above; iridescent aqua glass; handle absent; accompanied by a group of handle fragments. 175 grams total, 2.3-17.2 cm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections, primarily before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. -
Roman Terracotta Roof Tile and Bronze Brooch Fragment Group
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £13
Mixed group of terracotta tile fragments; offered with fragments of bronze bow brooches and other items. 1.08 kg total, 21-98 mm
Found whilst searching in Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire, UK. -
Large Roman Bronze Skillet
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
With a deep bowl, everted rim with a rounded lip, flat-section handle with lateral spurs and oval finial. 352 grams, 35.8 cm
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.