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LOT 0758
Late Roman Hinged Lidded Pyxis
4TH-5TH CENTURY A.D.
3 3/8 in. (64 grams, 86 mm).
Sheet-bronze two-part pyxis with carinated sidewall to the base, lid with reserved octofoil on a pounced field, concentric pointillé rings; working hinge mechanism.
ProvenanceAcquired in the 1990s.
Ex Abelita family collection.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Cf., for the type, the bronze pyxis in the Haluk Perk Museum, Istanbul, in Çulha, Z., Silent Witness, from Neolithic Period to Seljuks, Istanbul, 2012, p.77, 1st-3rd century A.D.
FootnotesAlthough pyxides were originally made of wood, as their name suggests, the term soon came to refer, in the Graeco-Roman world, to round containers used for both medicinal and domestic purposes. From the time of the Achaeans to the end of the Roman Empire, we find pyxides made of horn, ivory, bronze, silver, and gold. Women used them to store their ointments, makeup, and toiletries. A pyxis used for medical purposes was called a loculus, while the name pyxidicula designated a container for eye drops, and a tripuxium was a pyxis containing extracts from three different containers.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Arretine Red Slip Terra Sigillata Cup with Rabbits and SEX.M.D. Maker's Mark
Augustan, early 1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £546
Squat bowl with carinated profile and low foot; to the rim, applied rosettes and hares; stamped to the centre, a sandaled foot with legend 'SEX.M.D' legend. 132 grams, 11.3 cm wide
Acquired from Casemate Gallery, Bath, UK, 1990. From a late private Dorset, UK, collector. Property of a West London, UK, gentleman. Accompanied by an old identification card and original invoice dated 10 November 1990. -
Roman Light Green Glass Flask
Circa 1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Comprising a piriform body with dimple base, tapering tubular neck with pinched and everted rim. 68 grams, 16 cm
From an important collection of glass, London, UK, 1990s. -
Large Late Roman Mosaic with Inlaid Glass Birds
6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £149,500
Rectangular panel of decorative mosaic tesserae comprising: wave pattern border in cream and graduated blue-grey tesserae with darker outer edge; inner border of graduated maroon and dark blue-grey tesserae; central field with two inner rows of four and two outer rows of five parakeets in various standing and perching poses, each formed from blue and green glass tesserae with white, crimson and other detailing to the eye, beak and chest; embedded in a sturdy steel-framed matrix of traditional mid 20th century type. 2.12 x 2.05 m
with Leon Simard, 1960s, Montreal, Canada. Archaeologia Gallery, 1980s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12966-244460.
The design of repeated birds against a neutral field is similar to patterns found on Late Roman and Sassanian textiles of roughly the same date, especially silk and wool textiles woven on more mechanised looms. Birds of all varieties appear frequently in floor mosaics and other arts of the Roman period; however, beribboned birds are rare.
