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LOT 0765
Eastern Roman Bronze Bird Statuette
2ND-4TH CENTURY A.D.
2 1/8 in. (27.5 grams, 54 mm).
Modelled as a stylised bird standing on a globe atop an openwork pillar, the bird with wide tail and bulbous eyes.
ProvenanceEx German art market, 2000s.
Acquired from an EU collector living in London.
From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
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AUCTIONS:
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Late Roman Terracotta Lamp with Chi Rho
Late 5th-early 6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £572
Recessed discus with two filler holes flanking a low-relief letter rho with cruciform stave, lozenge detailing; band of concentric circles and arrowheads on the rim, lug handle and a low basal ring. 173 grams, 13.9 cm
Private collection, acquired in 1994; thence by descent.
The so-called Christian lamps in Terra Sigillata Africana (TSA) have been classified by Hayes into two major types, I and II. Lamps of Hayes types I and II, initially produced in Tunisia only, were broadly exported, then imitated throughout the Roman Empire for three centuries; consequently, they are extremely numerous. -
Roman Terracotta FORTIS Factory Oil Lamp
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
Rounded body with long nozzle, raised rim around the discus with central filling hole and three raised lugs on the shoulder; the base with concentric circles and maker's mark 'FORTIS'. 122 grams, 11.8 cm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Lapis Lazuli Gnostic Gemstone with Aphrodite Anadyomene
4th-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Ellipsoid in plan with enigmatic Greek legend 'BPE/IMW' to underside, facing figure of Aphrodite Anadyomene to obverse on baseline with Greek legend 'APE IAP', possibly an abbreviation for ΑΡ[ΌΡΙΦ]ΡΑ[Σ]Ι[Σ]. 1.38 grams, 17 mm
Private collection, acquired on the German art market in 1993; thence by descent.
The gemstone belongs to a series of blue gemstones, usually of lapis lazuli or blue glass, showing the famous image of Aphrodite Anadyomene ('rising from the sea'). In some of these gemstones, we find the magical word arôriphrasis, which transliterates an Egyptian title of the goddess Hathor as 'The Lady of the Blue Stone'. Since Hathor and Aphrodite were assimilated in Graeco-Roman Egypt, there is some logic to the appearance of the name and Aphrodite on these stones.
