Late Roman Glass Pendant with Facing Busts

Rectangular with raised rim and reserved inscription 'M.I.L'; repaired handle to the reverse. 23 grams, 40 mm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.

Modelled in the round standing erect with right hand on his hip and left arm extending from the elbow resting on the left hip and with fingers curled to hold a staff or handle, wearing a loosely draped cloth over the left shoulder and drawn around the body to hang over the arms; ribbed cuffs to the boots; youthful face with tousled hair and slightly exaggerated lentoid eyes; C-shaped staple beneath the feet for attachment; supplied with a custom-made display stand. 506 grams total, 18.7 cm including stand



with Sotheby’s, Antiquities, London, 6 July 1995, no.130. Acquired by the present owner at the above sale. 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.12194-222321.

The statue was probably a cult offering and presents an archaic Etruscan hairstyle, being part of the Italic statuettes produced as votive offering to the temples or for private lararia. His warrior status can be confirmed by his boots, typical of Etruscan and Latin warriors of archaic times.

With decorated bow shaped nozzle, large central filling-hole surrounded by a dotted ridge, shoulder decorated by geometric patterns; the handle shaped as a human face representing a head of Christ or a saint. 64 grams, 10 cm



Collected from 1970-1999. From the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK.

The lamp seems to be a variant of the type Beit Nattif lamps, usually with pyramidal handle (here substituted by a head of a saint or Christ) and a reddish slip on the upper part. This was the most widespread type of lamps in use in Judaea in the Late Roman Period.