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LOT 0116
Large Roman Bronze Basilisk
4TH CENTURY A.D.
3 1/2 in. (260 grams, 88 mm).
The upper body, neck and head of a mythical basilisk (cockatrice), modelled in the round with the body of a serpent and head of a cockerel, the body with a tapering round-section profile, stylised detailing to the head.
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.
LiteratureCf. Alexander, R.McN., 'The Evolution of the Basilisk' in Greece & Rome, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Oct., 1963), pp. 170-181, for discussion on it; cf. a possible head of Roman basilisk in Stupperich, R., ‘Antiken der Sammlung W.W.’ in Boreas, 12, 1989, pp.231-248, no.20.
FootnotesThe basilisk, known from the Renaissance onwards as a cockatrice, was a Graeco-Roman mythical two-legged dragon or serpent-like creature with a cock's head. It had the reputed ability to kill people by either looking at them, touching them, or sometimes breathing on them. According to legend a cockatrice would die instantly upon hearing a rooster crow, and having a cockatrice looking at itself in a mirror was one of the few sure ways to kill it.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0116
Large Roman Bronze Basilisk
Estimate £500 - 700€580 - 810 (for guidance only)$680 - 950 (for guidance only)
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Roman Samian Ware Wine Cup
1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £416
Or a scyphus drinking cup, composed of a conical body, moulded foot, volute plates with gusseted handles below, bearded mature male mask plaques to the handle bases; floral, geometric and architectural decorative motifs to the body; possible maker's finger prints in the clay; some restoration. 111 grams, 12.5 cm wide
English collection, 1990s. Ex property of a Suffolk, UK, gentleman.
Prolific workshops making such terracotta operated at Arretium (modern Arezzo, Italy) during the Julio-Claudian period. They displayed lavish relief depictions of mythological scenes or floral and foliate ornamentation. -
Roman Glass Bead Necklace
2nd-5th century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £46
Composed of graduated monochrome opaque black glass beads of various types, including amorphous, facetted, spherical, carinated and other types; restrung. 16.8 grams, 80 cm long
Ex W.J. collection, 1990s. -
Roman Bone Dice Pair
2nd-4th century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £169
With ring-and-dot markings disposed 1:6, 2:3, 4:5. 10.2 grams total, 14 mm each
Ex collection of a UK gentleman formed in the 1990s. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
