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LOT 0617
Late Roman Bronze Oil Lamp with Duck Head Handle
5TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
3 3/8 in. (143 grams, 87 mm).
Hollow-formed slipper-shaped oil lamp with central filler hole and short nozzle, basal ring; the handle formed as a duck's head with open beak.
ProvenanceAcquired on the German art market, 1989-1995.
with The Museum Gallery, 19 Bury Place, London, WC1A 2JB, 1998-2003.
Property of a London based academic, 2003-present.
Cf. for the type (but with different handle) Gökalp, Z.D., ‘Some examples of Byzantine bronze lamps in Turkish Museums’ in Actes du 1er Congres International d’etudes sur le Luminaire Antique (Nyon-Geneve, 29.IX-4.X.2003), Monographies Instrumentum 31, (2005), pp. 69-71, figs.3-4-5-6, pl.30.
FootnotesThe lamp belongs to the category of lamps with flattened spherical bodies, that have a certain number of variations in their nozzle, handle, lid and base designs. The most common form, like here, is that in which the body is heightened towards the front to form the nozzle. Many examples have oyster shell shaped lids which are connected to the body with hinges.
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Comprising a pair of discoid appliqués with beaded rim and high-relief pelta (military shield) motif, one with the pelta surmounted by a kantharos with a laurel wreath above, the other with vegetal volutes. 6.60 grams total, 61-62 mm
Acquired in the early 1990s. From the collection of a London antiquarian. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The subject represented on these two appliqués is a crescentic military shield, the so-called pelta, associated in the late Roman iconography with the Amazon female warriors. Many shields of this typology were also represented on the pedestal of the Column of Arcadius in Constantinople (circa 400 A.D.) and seemed to be associated with the heavy cavalry of the Imperial Guard (D’Amato-Negin, 2017, p.252). -
Bronze Miniature Chalice
Roman, 4th century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £78
Comprising a bulbous body with balustered stem and flared foot; band of pointillé ornament to the lower body. 30.7 grams, 43 mm
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Roman Gold Ring with Gemstone
1st-2nd century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
Hollow-formed finger ring with broad plaque; with a later gemstone of an eagle and snake within a wreath; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 2.28 grams, 24.52 mm overall, 16.95 mm internal diameter (approximate size British I, USA 4 1/4, Europe 7.44, Japan 7)
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. From the family collection of Mr S.A., Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12107-218183.
