Late Roman Bronze Bracelet with Snake-Heads

Trapezoidal in plan base fragment with figures carved in the round: tree with bands of horizontal ribbing; left foot, ankle and calf of a male wearing open-toed sandal and military-style boot, the upper part decorated with the skin of a lion cub; body of a dog sitting at heel beside the tree. 13.9 kg, base: 30 cm long



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12578-232182. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The military boot cothurnus worn here by a hunter or a military commander, was widely used by commanders of the Roman army, and sometimes by actors playing military heroes. Officers wore splendid closed cothurni of various colours, like those realised in blue leather and worn by an officer represented on a fresco from Stabiae (D’Amato-Sumner, 2009, p.13).

The names of high-ranking officers of a Roman legion engraved in two columns in retrograde script, inter alia the Senatorial Commander of a Roman Legion (legatus legionis), two Tribunes and several Centurions being cursed; with holes to fix it to an object with nails, both being magical practices of antiquity aiming for the malediction of enemies; a unique and important document; it has been proposed to identify the legate with Q. Pomponius Rufus, consul in the year A.D. 95. 151 grams total, 87 mm each



Private collection of the gentleman, J.L. Fernández, Switzerland, before 2000. From the private academic collection of Professor P.M.A.R. Accompanied by a copy of the academic paper Rothenhoefer, P., Römische Offiziere auf einer tabella defixionum. Ein außergewöhnliches Dokument magischen Schadenzaubers gegen eine Legionskommandeur und weitere Mitglieder des Offizierskorps, Epigraphica 78, 2016, pp.235-251, where this unique curse tablet is published. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Rectangular fragment with a central pomegranate motif on black background surrounded by a stylised dolphin or a fish; set in a modern matrix. 26 kg, 76 x 76 cm



Embedded in the floor of a reputable jewellery shop in Zurich, installed by the owner in the late 1970s to early 1980s. with Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, Switzerland. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12677-236415. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.