Ancient Art, Antiquities, Books, Natural History & Coins

A substantial hollow-form figure of Juno (Greek Hera) standing with right hand in gripping pose, left hand extended palm-upwards, engraved collar to the neck and diadem to the hair, palla gathered at the waist, slipping from the right shoulder; mounted on a custom-made stand. 693 grams total, 25 cm high including stand



Horatio and Patsy Melas Collection, Alexandria and later Switzerland, acquired by 1960 and until 1989. Kyros Melas Collection, London, 1989 until 1999. with Bonhams, Knightsbridge, 21 October 1999, no.178 [£6,000-£8,000]. Private collection, London. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13308-258228.

The figure's pose recalls that of the statue of Juno Sospita in the Vatican Museum, Rome, inv. no.241. Horatio Melas was born in 1904 into a family of Greek merchants established in Alexandria, Egypt. It was there that he met and, in 1960, married Patsy, and together they maintained the family collection. Following the family's departure from Egypt in 1967, the collection was relocated to Switzerland, remaining there until 1989, when their son, Kyros Melas, settled in London. Kyros, who worked in the City as a private equity trader, continued to care for the collection and occasionally added to it during the 1990s.

Rectangular plaque with stepped herringbone border, facing bust of Cybele with flaring turret-crown and cascading hair, symbols in the field. 430 grams, 94 mm



From the collection of a European gentleman living in South London; acquired 1970-1980. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13307-258227.

Cybele was the great Phrygian mother of the gods, and goddess of motherhood, fertility and the mountain wilds.

Issued for a member of the equites singulares Augusti, the emperor’s horse guards; granted by Septimius Severus in the summer of AD 195, during his Parthian expedition; obverse with seven lines of text with well engraved letters: (1) [… IMP] • VI • C[OS …] / (2) [EQVITIBVS Q]VI•INTER•S[INGVLAR MILITAVERVNT CASTRIS] / (3) [NOVIS QVIB]VS PRAEEST [. . .] / (4) [TRIBVNVS QVI]NIS ET VICEN[IS PLVRIBVSVE STIPENDIS] / (5) [EMERI]TIS DIMISSIS H[ONESTA MISSIONE QVORVM] / (6) [NOMINA SVB]SCRIPTA SVNT [CIVITATEM ROMANAM] / (7) . . . + ++ . . . . On the inner face traces of 7 lines of text: (1) [- - -]MAX·TR[IB / (2) [- - -]+ COS [- - -] / (3)[EQVITIBVS QVI I]NTER·SINCV[LAR MILITAVER CASTRIS] / (4) [NOVIS QVIBVS] PRAEEST + [- - -] /(5) TRIBVNVS] QVINIS ET VI[CENIS PLVRIBVSVE STIPENDIS] / (6) [EMERITIS] DIM[ISSIS HONESTA MISSIONE QVORVM] / (7) +++. 27.13 grams, 50 mm



Property of a European gentleman, acquired on the London art market.

Bifacial fragment with piercing at one corner; Side A - trilinear margin with seriffed legend 'QVI MILI[TAVERUNT ...IN CO-] / HORTIBVS [PRAETORIIS SE-]/ VERIANIS [DECEM I II III] / IV V VI [VII VIII VIIII X] / PIIS VIND[ICIBUS]' and below ']TAVERVN['; Side B - legend set perpendicular to reverse 'MODESTO / S CONISEVE / M A]VRELIO M F V[LP SECVNDO --- / +DESCRIPT[VM ---'. 20.75 grams, 46 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

Rectangular fragment with irregular clipped edges; Side A - trilinear concentric border to the corner; Side B - inscription in serifed capitals '[.]NAS IN MATRI[MONIO / [D]VXERINT PRIO[---] / [.]TOLLANT AC SI [---] / [CIVI]BVS RO[M]ANIS [---] / [ID]VS IANQATICI / [M.] MAECIO PRO[BO COS] / [.]A SEVERIANA'. 28.4 grams, 56 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

A member of the Imperial family, possibly an empress, depicted with an elaborate coiffure, the hair at the back of the head parted in the middle and the two strands folded over each other, then pulled to the front to form a looped horizontal layer parted in the middle of the smooth forehead and drawn back, individual curls represented as vertical lines along the forehead hairline up to the exposed ears, two locks hanging down the sides behind the ears, extending to the upper part of the neck; beautiful facial rendering with stoic expression, exquisite detailing to the eyebrows, eyelids and pupils; snub-nose, closed lips, thin and graceful neck; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 4.07 kg, 40.5 cm high including stand



Acquired on the German art market, early 1970s. German private family collection; by gift to the owner's son in 2015. Private collection, London. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffele D'Amato, and Dr Marina Mattei, former curator of the Capitoline Museums for over 40 years. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12607-234556.

The oval, gaunt, deep-set eyes and the folds at the sides of the nose and mouth reveal the mature age of the woman depicted in the portrait. The woman’s head shows the typical traits of the full and mature 3rd century A.D., executed in a Hellenistic style tradition. Our sculpture fits well in the imperial portrait type, bearing technical and aesthetic parallels to portraits in bronze. The hairstyle could be Scheitelzopf (or reverse plait), tightened by a hairnet, pinned to the top of the head. The same type of hairstyle, albeit with variations in the details (decorative curls and position of the hair loop), is found on a few other portraits of women that were dated to the period of Gallienus by Marianne Bergmann. Some of the portraits in this typologically related group are likely to be private portraits. Hereby, physiognomic features and especially imperial coin portraits need to be taken into account. In this context, it is important to compare the portrait with that of Trebonianus Gallus in the MET. Like the sculpture of Trebonianus Gallus, the head fits stylistically with Roman provincial bronzes from the Eastern Mediterranean or North Africa, possibly from workshops of Asia Minor or from the great metropolis of Alexandria, where bronze statuary was more common and Hellenistic influences remained strong.

With a piriform body with a dimple base, a long tubular neck with an everted rim. 194 grams, 18.2 cm



From an important London, UK, collection 1980-2020.

The toilet bottle corresponds to the Isling Form 28a or Vessberg flask type A.III.a. The transparent greyish green glass suggests that the object belongs to the Hayes' fabric 2 of Cypriot blown glass.

Bulbous, dimpled body and a tubular neck with trefoil mouth, a strap handle to the rear. 28 grams, 79 mm



Acquired in the 1990s from London dealerships and auction houses. From the Lonson collection.

Comprising an iridescent piriform body, tapering tubular neck with pinched and everted rolled rim. 9.44 grams, 84 mm



Acquired on the European art market in 2001.

Indented toilet bottles with long necks are rather common. In Western provinces of the Roman Empire, they occur most frequently in and around the Rhineland. In the Eastern part of the Empire, find places include Crete, Cyprus, Anatolia, Syria and Egypt.

With a globular, dimpled body, a tapering neck with a trefoil mouth, and an applied strap handle to the rear. 83 grams, 11.8 cm



Sotheby's, New Bond Street, London, 8 July 1994, no.35. Private collection, Suffolk.

With a broad mouth, applied D-section handle and flattened foot, integral bands of vertical corrugation and S-scrolls to the equator. 22.9 grams, 83 mm



Acquired on the UK art market, 1990s. Private collection, New York, USA. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13363-255450.

There are several published mould-blown flasks decorated with a tendril scroll around the body, flanked by tongues and petals, a decoration that appears in at least three different variants. They have either one or two handles.

Shallow bowl with moulded pillar detailing on the outer face. 142 grams, 12.6 cm wide



Acquired from Millennium Antiquities, Lancashire, UK, in 2001. From the collection of a Bedfordshire, UK, lady. Accompanied by an original Millennium Antiquities certificate of authenticity dated 13 October 2001.

Ribbed bowls were typical cast tableware belonging to the early Imperial period, and parallels have been found throughout the Roman provinces and beyond. In Cyprus, as elsewhere in the eastern half of the Empire, bowls with short, close-set ribs concentrated around the middle of the body constitute a large group.