Roman Bronze Animal Weight Group

Carved in the half-round, showing a mature female with rounded facial features and hair drawn back in a chignon; band and ridged body of the headdress in Egyptianising style; mounted on a custom-made wooden display stand. 520 grams total, 17 cm including stand



Private collection, Munich, Germany. with Heritage of Ketterer, Munich, Germany. with Auction House Ursula Nusser E.K., Germany, 2011, no.4021.

Hollow-formed life-size club with tubular handle and flared rim, shank with series of regularly-placed knop projections on piriform pads, domed end; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 4.73 kg total, club: 55 cm



Formerly in North American collection, 1990s. From an Austrian collection, acquired in London from UK collector in early 2000s. From a London gentleman's collection, 2000s. 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 search certificate number no.12345-225411.

Like the famous statue of Hercules in gilded bronze (the so called Hercules from the Forum Boarium), today at the Capitoline Museums (Palazzo dei Conservatori), this club would have come from a temple dedicated to the Greek hero. The Mastai Hercules, at the Vatican Museum, shows a similar club. The presence of a large handle in our piece confirms that the club was held with the right hand in resting position, and that the typology of Hercules was probably one of the two models.

Composed of a central domed boss and openwork volutes to the sides; for a sword belt or a chariot, one corner separated. 69 grams, 14 cm wide

Good condition, very rare

Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.

In 3rd century A.D. the sword (spatha) was mainly carried suspended from a broad baldric usually on the soldier’s left side. This sword’s shoulder belt, visible on many monuments related to the 3rd century, was composed from a leather strap, reinforced on the rims. The four specimens of Vimose provided valuable information about the shape of the baldric: one end was broad and finished in a straight edge, the other tapered to a narrow strip. They were decorated with silver disks (phalerae) of circa 6.4 cm. of diameter, with rings on the reverse for fastening. These phalerae were of different shapes, styles and decorations: we can observe a range from simple copper-alloy discs to bronze openwork pieces fitted with a plate or an openwork disc showing elaborate figures. They were usually attached at about 29-30 cm from the wider and squared top of the baldric. One of the finial parts of the baldric was in fact very wide and ended with a straight edge, upon which could be placed a hinged rectangular openwork terminal plate (like our specimen), attached to a belt terminal pendant. The lack, in our specimen, of holes for the attachment rivets could also support the thesis that the piece is not for a baldric, but a mount for cart or chariot as some examples in a similar style found in Roman North Africa.