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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 Gold Ring with Gem Depicting Alexander the Great Hunting
3rd century A.D.Estimate: £30,000 - 40,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £16,667
Composed of a large openwork hoop and bezel set with a jasper gemstone, intaglio image of a mounted cavalryman wearing a high-crested pseudo Corinthian helmet and holding a barbed javelin in his hand, protecting his horse from the leaping lion attacking from the rear, a tree behind. 33.97 grams, 31.98 mm overall, 20.67 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T, USA 9 1/2, Europe 21.26, Japan 20)
Acquired on the New York art market in 1995. Ex French collection. with Christie's, London, 25th April 2007, lot 187. Important North West London collection. Accompanied by a copy of a French cultural passport no.079872. 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 a search certificate number no.11775-204565.
The massive size, shape and the volute decoration is typical of the 3rd century A.D. and similar rings are visible in the collections of the British Museum and Mainz State Museum. The subject of the intaglio is made with great skill, exquisite artistry and engraved in fine detail. The lion hunt theme is typical of the Hellenistic world since the time of Alexander the Great. -
Roman Glass Sprinkler Vessel
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £494
Piriform green jar raised on five small feet to the base, collar to the conical neck and chamfered rim; to the lower neck a disc with narrow central opening; to the outer face of the body, double wavey trail to the upper and lower body. 77 grams, 10 cm high
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Two Victories
4th century A.D.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £444
The oval intaglio engraved with two winged Victories, facing each other in profile, wearing long garments crossed on the breast like a trabea consularis, both holding a staff-standard with a double forked tip. 1.64 grams, 17 mm
Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Important North West London collection.
The iconography of two Victories facing each other is clearly from Late Antiquity and reflects the images of the two victorious empires - East and West - that, transformed into winged Nikes, are holding together the standard with the chi-rho (the two Greek letters forming the initials of the name of Christ), conceived as a long shaft topped by the Greek letter P (R) and the superimposed letter X.
