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LOT 0746
Large Roman Aubergine Glass Twin-Handled Jar
3RD-4TH CENTURY A.D.
7 in. (246 grams, 18 cm high).
An aubergine glass jar with onion-shaped body, cylindrical neck, trumpet-style mouth and rolled lip; two applied green glass handles and pie crust frill around neck, body with decorative raised lobes; some iridescence.
ProvenanceMitsukoshi, Tokyo, Japan, 1981.
Kokusai Bijutsu: Ninth International Art Exhibition, no.46.
Acquired Bonhams, New Bond Street, 28 November 2019, lot 146.
Ex J.L. collection Surrey, UK.
Accompanied by copies of the Bonhams catalogue pages.
Cf. The British Museum, museum number 1890,1115.3, for a similar vessel.
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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Roman Triclinium Finial Set
1st-4th century A.D.Estimate: £400 - 600 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £200
A set of four copper-alloy triclinium (bed) finials, each with a bell-shaped body and baluster style finial; hollow to base. 1.18 kg total, 9.6-10.1 cm
Acquired before 2000. From the collection of a European gentleman living in the UK.
The Romans, like the Greeks, ate whilst reclined on beds. The eating bed (lectus triclinaris) was a luxury furniture item crafted by carpenters. From the 2nd century B.C., Romans started to create 'lecti aerati, inargentati, inaurati, eborati, testudinei,' i.e. beds made of wood and covered with bronze, silver, gold and ivory fittings (as in our specimens) or with scales of other precious material. Such elements were sometimes sculpted in the shape of an animal protome, or were simply bell-shaped, like our specimens. -
Roman Mount with Flavian Emperor
Late 1st century A.D.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
A copper-alloy appliqué protome in the form of the Flavian Emperor Vespasian, frontal bust in half relief, wearing an exomis leaving his right shoulder uncovered, solid suspension ring to the top of the head. 52.3 grams, 60 mm
Acquired 1969-1999. London collection of the late Mr S.M., thence by descent.
The realism in the details is remarkable and was achieved through fine modelling. This protome was perhaps set in a medallion to decorate the lower terminal of a fulcrum, an S-shaped couch attachment almost always made of metal which was fastened to the side of a wooden headboard to serve as an elbow-rest on a couch (kline). -
Roman Figure of a Boy in Oriental Dress
1st-2nd century A.D.Estimate: £1,000 - 1,400 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £500
A bronze figure of a child sitting with one leg extended and the other bent beneath the body, arms raised in supplication; loose fitting trousers and knee-length tunic gathered at the waist, boots on the feet and a separate pointed hood on the head; Scythian or similar costume. 14.6 grams, 61 mm
Private Swiss collection, acquired 2001.