Roman and Other Jet and Glass Bead Group

A contemporary pair of clay coin dies used to manufacture coin forgeries, the working faces depicting a gold aureus or silver denarius of Emperor Severus Alexander, with incuse and reversed legends; each counterfeit die with inscribed numbering to verso [(((( LXIIII = 64]; accompanied by a clay crucible excavated at the same time with inked inscription to the underside: 'Arch.-Nr. / 6612-1975', another object that would have been required in the casting process of manufacturing of fake coins. 86.86 grams total, 44-58 mm

1 - 1 1/4 in.

In a private collection of Roman objects since 1975. Accompanied by a copy of a letter and schedule addressed to the Director of the Library Faculty of Kamp-Linfurt, a branch of Stadsparkasse Duisburg regarding the loan of the forger's die and crucible for exhibition, dated 13 December 1993.

Towards the end of the 2nd century and the early 3rd century A.D. the quality of Roman coinage began to be altered. Probably from the beginning of the reign of Severus Alexander, forgers were tacitly allowed by the Roman government to issue counterfeit coins. There are many ancient coins of this emperor that appear to have been cast in moulds. Most of these moulds would have been employed by forgers, and the dies were normally destroyed quickly after use in an effort to dispose of the evidence.

The rectangular palette with bevelled edges, accompanied by a bone spoon and probe implement. 152 grams total, 7.5-15.5 cm



Acquired early 1990s. Ex private American collection; thence by descent. Private collection since 1998.

A Roman copy after a Hellenistic original, probably representing the goddess Demeter or Aphrodite sitting on a rock with her legs slightly parted, left hand resting on her lap and holding a pomegranate(?); the right arm stretched out to her side and holding a water jug that appears to have been reworked at a later time; dressed in a floor-length chiton with vertical folds and fastened under the breasts by a high belt; himation only covering the lower part of the body leaving her pleated dress clearly visible between her legs; her wavy hair with central parting and collected in a soft chignon at the nape of the neck; the face with schematic features with large eyes and raised eyelids, a small fleshy mouth and a prominent chin. 14.9 kg, 39 cm high



Ex Paris collection. French gallery, Paris, 1990-2000s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Marina Mattei and Dr Laura Maria Vigna. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11932-209624

The statuette seems to refer to the iconography of the goddess Demeter. Water, an element of purification, is a constant in the cult of this goddess, as is the fruit clutched in her left hand, most likely a pomegranate, an allusive attribute of nourishment and her relationship with Hades. The pomegranate links the iconography to the rape of Persephone, appearing among the funerary symbols as nourishment for the afterlife. Precise references and comparisons can be found with the terracotta statuette, found near Vetralla, in the National Etruscan Museum Rocca Albornoz of Viterbo and with the female bust of the sanctuary of Demeter of San Biagio in Agrigento, for the treatment of the hair and the facial features. The Demeter of Cnidus, a marble statue dated to 350 B.C., today in the British Museum, represents the goddess sitting on a throne wearing a long chiton and himation. The hairstyle with hair gathered in a low knot on the back of the head, however, references directly that of the Cnidian Aphrodite of Praxiteles. The statuette in question could be a copy of the Greek deity Demeter/Persephone created in Roman times, a period in which the cult overlaps with that of Ceres. In the early Imperial age there are examples of contamination of the iconography of Demeter/Persephone with Ceres, as attested among others by the statues of the Capitoline Museums inv. 231 and that of the Roman Theatre of Merida (Spain) in the National Museum of Roman Art, dated to the 1st century A.D.