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LOT 0867
Byzantine Bronze Ram Statuette
5TH-8TH CENTURY A.D. OR LATER
2 in. (56 grams, 49 mm).
Depicted limp with a collar or wineskins draped around the waist, modelled in the round with naturalistic detailing and curled horns.
Provenance‘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.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Byzantine Bronze Empress Mount
5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,040
Formed in the half-round as a youthful female bust, a cross in the middle of the high hair arrangement (propoloma). 193 grams, 97 mm
Ex Law Professor in Alexandria, prior to 1930. Ex collection M. Bouvier, Switzerland (1901-1980).
The image of the Roman Empress during the late Roman Empire, was connected to Christianity by the figure of the Empress Helena. Constantine had several cities renamed Helenopolis in honour of his mother, Helena, and she gained the political verification of power with the status nobilissima femina in 318 and the rank of Augusta in 324. Alongside her social and political image, Helena also had a significant reputation as a good Christian who was a patron and took care of poor people. Owing to this powerful religious image that was created, all other Christian women during the Eastern Roman Empire were encouraged spiritually by the fact that Helena was the mother of the first Christian emperor, and the image of the Roman empress was connected to the Christian image of the Mother of God, and represented on weights, bronze appliques and, in this case, maybe as an upper mount of a tripod. -
Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Bronze Cross Group
7th-19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Comprising: a cross buckle with pin; the upper plate of a small enkolpion with a praying Virgin or Saint; two orthodox pectoral crosses, both with inscription 'IC' (Iesus) 'XC' (Christos ) 'NIKA' (Christ is victorious); the smallest cross with invocation-prayer engraved on the back. 51.8 grams total, 36-73 mm
Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Ruislip, UK, gentleman, by inheritance.
The fragment of the simpler Maltese cross mount corresponds to the type E2 of Schulze-Dörrlamm, here with straight arms with rounded corners. It resembles the cross-shaped hinge fittings of the belt buckles from Herrera de Pisuerga and tomb 9 from El Tesorillo from Visigoth Spain, two bronze fittings from Lusitania and the buckle with busts of saints and the Greek inscription 'Light and Life' from Korbous in Tunisia. These kind of buckles were also found in male warrior graves. -
Byzantine Terracotta Oil Lamp
7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Carinated with a domed upper face, circular filling hole and spout, remains of handle, raised linear motifs. 65 grams, 90 mm
Acquired 1970s onwards. Private collection of Michael O'Hara, Cambridgeshire, UK. Ex private collection of Benjamin Hyde-Smith, Hertfordshire, UK.
