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LOT 1775
British Celtic Enamelled Bronze Trefoil Mount
IRON AGE, 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.
7/8 in. (5.5 grams, 21 mm).
Formed as a trefoil with a central boss and stem to the reverse; each lobe with an eccentrically placed circular enamel-filled cell. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound Thrapston, Northamptonshire, UK.
Recorded with UKDFD no.53268.
Cf. the openwork trefoil fittings with La Tène designs from Stanwick published in Smith, R.A., British Museum Guide to Early Iron Age Antiquities 1925, reprinted Ipswich, 1994, p.138-42.
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LOT 1775
British Celtic Enamelled Bronze Trefoil Mount
Estimate £60 - 80€70 - 93 (for guidance only)$81 - 108 (for guidance only)
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Large Celtic Iron Open Socketted Splayed Axehead
Late Hallstatt-Early La Tene Period, circa 450 B.C.Estimate: £50 - 70 (+bp*)
Bids: 2 | Current Bid: £16
With a flaring blade and a rectangular socket open on one side. 424 grams, 12.5 cm
Ex M. Spiegelberg collection, since 1989-1992; thence by descent. Accompanied by a previous yellow cataloguing slip. -
British Celtic Bronze Toggle and Loop Fastener
Iron Age, 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.Estimate: £30 - 40 (+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £5
Button-and-loop fastener with D-section segmented face, flared arm with round-section attachment loop. 17.5 grams, 28 mm
Found Wilden, Bedfordshire, UK. Recorded with UKDFD no.53478. -
Central Balkans Silver Ring with Spiralled Terminals and Axe Motif Ornament
Iron Age, 1st-2nd century A.D.Estimate: £700 - 900 (+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £400
Robust ring of octagonal section, fashioned from drawn and hammered wire, the hoop terminating in tightly coiled spirals, which flank a rectangular ornament soldered across the bezel, recalling a miniature axe-head; the coils further reinforced with wrapped silver wire, securing the decorative composition. 8.30 grams, 28.40 mm overall, 21.70 x 19.32 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T 1/2, USA 9 3/4, Europe 21.89, Japan 21)
Bonhams, Fine Antiquities, 4 July 1998, no.19. Private collection, UK, 1990s. with Rupert Wace Ancient Art Ltd, London. with Ariadne Galleries, New York and London, acquired from the above at TEFAF 2014, New York. Private American collection, acquired from the above, 23 January 2017.
This ring belongs to the repertoire of autochthonous Balkan silverwork that flourished from the Roman conquest through the mid-3rd century. The type is closely related to ornaments documented in the Tekija and Bare hoards, where bracelets and rings with spiral-wrapped ends and miniature axes appear as apotropaic symbols. While the axe motif was deeply embedded in Dacian and Balkan visual culture, its execution here in silver, combined with wire wrapping and spiralled terminals, reflects the enduring influence of Hellenistic toreutics upon local craftsmanship. Rather than a Viking jewel, the ring finds its most convincing parallels among the Balkan-Danubian silver hoards of the early Roman Empire.
