Large Roman Haematite Bifacial Gnostic Gemstone with Inscription

Featuring a broad, low, round-bellied body with a wide, hollowed base, a short neck with a funnel-shaped mouth; incised festoon-like decoration on the body. 132 grams, 92 mm high



From the collection of Sir Daniel Donehue; his collection was sold in the 2000s. Roman glass from an important London collection, acquired from the early 1980s. Accompanied by a typed previous catalogue information page with provenance. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13440-263208.

This jar belongs to a generic vessel form known from many eastern Mediterranean and European sites and dated to the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. Characteristic are the annular pontil marks, patterned on the squat globular body.

Cylindrical body perched on a wide, slightly concave foot; the shoulders splayed outwards, leading to a thick trumpet-style rim gently curving upwards. 32 grams, 66 mm wide



Ex S.M. collection, London, UK, 1970-1999. Roman glass from an important London collection, acquired from the early 1980s. Accompanied by a typed previous catalogue information page with provenance.

The shape of this small cup derives from metal vessels of the Early Empire period or from ‘terra sigillata’ earthenware. Similar vessels were found throughout the Empire during the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. Vessels similar to this one have been discovered in the necropolis at Kourion, Cyprus (dating to the first half of the 1st century A.D.), in 1st-century finds from Gaul, and in Egypt, though the specific find spot and date in the latter case remain undetermined.

With long, curly hair braided over the forehead and top of the head, turned to the left and slightly inclined; round fleshy face with narrow, almond-shaped eyes; possibly from a copy of 'Eros Stringing his Bow' by Lysippos (3rd quarter of the 4th cent. B.C.); mounted on a custom-made stand. 1.71 kg total, 23 cm high including stand



Private American collection, circa 1960. with Sotheby's, New York, 6 December 2006, no.128B. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13538-263101.

The original Greek work that may have inspired the Roman sculptors could be a sculpture by the 4th-century B.C. artist Lysippos, who created the cult statues of Eros at Thespiae. Various copies are preserved of this artwork, like the one in the National Museum of Liverpool (2nd century A.D., inv. no.59.148.93) and the one in the Hermitage Museum (inv. no. Гр. 3102 [А 199]).