Iron Age Celtic Bronze Strap Junction with Animal Face

1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

1 3/4 in. (20.1 grams, 44 mm).

Modelled in the half-round, stylized features, possibly a lion.

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.

Literature

Cf. similar examples in PAS BERK-A940D9, LON-C12241, DOR-54D2DB, NARC-565894, HAMP2961, HAMP-7794C4, and Bushe-Fox, First report on the excavation of the Roman fort at Richborough, Kent, London, 1926, p.47, plate XV, no.29, for similar harness fittings with anthropomorfic or animal head.

Footnotes

Such strap dividers are thought to date to the late Iron Age, to the late 1st century BC or early 1st century AD. They were used from Celts and Romans (or from the Celt Auxiliaries inside the Roman Army) for horse harness and also by the Essedarii (chariot fighters of Celtic origins) for the horses of their chariots in the Roman Circuses.

CONDITION

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LOT 1553