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LOT 0733
Roman Bronze Animal-Headed Ladle
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
9 7/8 in. (147 grams, 25 cm).
With broad bowl featuring two spurs to the rim flanking the junction with the handle, carinated band below the rim, concentric rings to the base; flat-section handle with gussets to the edges and rear, hooked ibex-head finial.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
Cf. Tassinari, S., La Vaisselle de Bronze, Romaine et Provinciale, au Musée des Antiquités Nationales, XXIXe supplément de Gallia, Paris, 1975, items 40-3, for ladles with similar animal-head finials; cf. also Boucher, S., Inventaire des Collections Publiques Françaises - 17 Vienne: Bronzes Antiques, Paris, 1971, pp.168-169, for similar specimens.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0733
Roman Bronze Animal-Headed Ladle
Estimate £300 - 400€350 - 460 (for guidance only)$410 - 540 (for guidance only)
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Roman Bronze Phallic Amulet
3rd-4th century A.D. or laterEstimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
Composed of a hollowed truncated conical socket, with a curved arm to each side, one ending in a phallic shape, the other ending with a closed fist. 26.1 grams, 55 mm
Acquire in the 1990s. Ex Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.
Roman phallic amulets are represented by many examples preserved in museums and private collections, with a vast variety of types. This specimen belongs to category of double phallus, even if one of the male attributes is here represented as a fist. These amulets were worn as a wish for fertility and virile power, often hung on horses as harness pendants. -
Roman Silver Mouse Figure
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £624
Shown with semi-naturalistic detailing in a crouching posture, eating a nut held in its front paws. 7.74 grams, 27 mm
‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection. -
Roman Redware Sherd with Constantinian Portraits
4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £416
From the upper part of the vessel, displaying a frieze of profile busts and figural scenes within roundels, winged Victory holding a wreath and standing on globe between the roundels; the central roundel with Sol Invictus and a sun chariot. 155 grams, 18.5 cm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
This terra sigillata fragment appears to have been part of a large tray, celebrating the imperial triumph of an early 4th century emperor, possibly Constantine or a member of his family such as Crispus. The combination of triumphal symbols (palms, quadriga, radiated crown) with imperial figures is typical of the tetrarchy and early Constantinian era, where elements of dying paganism were still used to celebrate imperial glory. Note the detailed late Roman clothing, with a closed chlamys-paludamentum on the right shoulder and, in the profile figure, a thorax with hemispherical shoulder protections.
