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LOT 0147
Roman Amber Glass Pilgrim's Flask
4TH-5TH CENTURY A.D.
6 in. (107 grams, 15.2 cm high).
With tubular neck and everted rim.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession numbers 17.194.93 and 81.10.51, for similar.
Footnotes'At the moment the cross is brought for veneration .... they offer oil to be blessed in little flasks. When the mouth of one of the flasks touches the Wood of the Cross, the oil instantly bubbles over, and unless it is closed very quickly it all spills out.' (The Piacenza Pilgrim, v. 173, circa 570 AD).
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0147
Roman Amber Glass Pilgrim's Flask
Estimate £1,000 - 1,400€1,160 - 1,620 (for guidance only)$1,350 - 1,890 (for guidance only)
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Roman Fresco Painted Wall Plaster Collection
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
With painted designs in white, ochre, claret, crimson and brown. 531 grams total, 6-11.4 cm
Acquired in the 19th century. Ex Jeger collection, Switzerland. -
Roman 'The Rodings' Silvered Bronze Bird Brooch
Circa 2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Complete with pin lug, pin and catchplate to reverse; bird standing right with wings folded against the body, remains of silvered detailing to the feathers and head. 2.9 grams, 25 mm
Found The Rodings, Essex, UK.
Excavating an archaeological site at Salthouse in October 1980, Alex Vines found a bronze bird thought to be part of a Roman duck brooch. The shape was slightly different from our specimen, but it confirmed that brooches shaped as ducks were used by civilians in 2nd-3rd century Roman Britannia. The zoomorphic brooches were typical in Britain as many of the birds shown were either representative of native birds or of ducks. -
Roman Redware Sherd with Venator Gladiator
4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
The fighting venator dressed in a long sleeved tunic embroidered with orbiculi and pectorarin, segmenta on the sleeves, brandishing a javelin of venabulum type; suspension loop to the reverse. 18 grams, 70 mm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
The combat scene is likely a reference to the gladiatorial fights between men and animals; such games in the arena were a principal form of entertainment through the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. Both men and women would partake in such fights. The venatores (hunters) were the most specialised in this field, fighting with a spear with winged blades and long knives (culter venatorius).
