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LOT 0158
Roman Bifacial Green Jasper Gemstone with Saddled Male Donkey and EVM
1ST CENTURY A.D.
1/2 in. (0.98 grams, 12 mm).
The intaglio with a donkey (mule?) grazing, body facing right; Latin inscription on the verso ‘EVM’ (him).
ProvenanceAcquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
Important North West London collection.
Cf., for a similar gemstone in the Venezia Archaeological National Museum, inventory no.G138; cf. Sena Chiesa, G., Gemme del Museo Nazionale di Aquileia, 1966, no.1050, p.349.
FootnotesDonkeys were used by the Roman army from circa 200 B.C. but mules, the hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, were to become the most important working animals for the military and were used to pull heavy artillery such as catapults. It has been estimated that there were probably half a million mules serving in the Roman army by the time of Augustus (31 B.C.-A.D. 14). DNA studies have now shown that mules may have comprised up to 50% of the equids in the Roman Empire. The use of pack-mules for the army continued in the Eastern Roman army until the fall of Constantinople.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0158
Roman Bifacial Green Jasper Gemstone with Saddled Male Donkey and EVM
Estimate £800 - 1,000€930 - 1,160 (for guidance only)$1,080 - 1,350 (for guidance only)
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Roman Carnelian Grasshopper Amulet
Circa 1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
Carved in the round with wings folded; tail absent. 12.9 grams, 49 mm
Very fine condition.
Acquired prior to 2000. Ex British private collection, London, UK. -
Roman Bronze Bracelet Group
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Comprising five with round-section bodies and squared terminals; the surfaces decorated with engraved lines and dots. 68 grams total, 64-65 mm
From the family collection of a Surrey gentleman since before 1960.
Bracelets were worn in Rome by ladies of rank, but it was considered a mark of effeminacy for civilian men to use such female ornaments (Suetonius, Caligula, 52; Nero, 30). The armillae (or psellia in Greek) were rings and bracelets worn by women in the Graeco-Roman world on both legs and arms. Homer mentions them (elikas) as being part of the hairstyle of the divine Aphrodite, thus giving an almost sacred character to these objects. There were different types, the most common consisting of a more or less thick metal wire, or a flat or cylindrical circle, like our examples. -
Roman Bronze Fitting Group
Circa 2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Comprising: a substantial key handle with baluster and 'X' ornament; knife pommel; clothing studs; fragmentary pins with decorative heads. 137 grams total, 18-92 mm
Ex Axel Guttman collection. Acquired on the UK art market. Ex private Merseyside, UK, collection.
