Loading, please wait...
LOT 1193
Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks
1ST CENTURY A.D.
2 1/2 in. (16.5 grams total, 65 mm each).
Each a scrolled bar with gently carinated upper face, formed as serpents or other animals with stylised geometric detailing; attachment perforations to one terminal. [2]
ProvenanceAcquired on the London art market, 1980s-1990s.
LiteratureCf. Bishop, M.C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman military equipment, from the Punic wars to the fall of Rome, London, 2006, p.96, fig.51,4 for similar.
FootnotesIn the 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D., the Celtic fastening system of the ring mail armour (gallica, lorica ferro aspera) became the standard in the Imperial Roman army, with a pivot attached to the breast and hinged to the edges of the humeralia (shoulder guards). The chest fastener had various different designs. The double hooks, S-shaped and usually with snake-head terminals, were secured by a central rivet on the chest. The system allowed excellent freedom of movement, giving greater protection to the shoulders and the arms. Similar fasteners for infantry mail have been found on the Kalkriese battlefield, some of them also decorated with niello and inscribed with the name of the soldier.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
LOT 1193
Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks
Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
-
Ummayad Bronze Spearhead
7th-8th century A.D.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £133
Formed with a broadly triangular blade, narrow neck and tapering round-section socket. 245 grams, 34 cm
Ex old English collection. The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
The basic Arabic term for a spear or lance, whether used by cavalry or infantry, was rumh. In the 7th century it normally would have been ten or twelve cubits long, i.e. four and a half metres. -
Viking Age Bronze Sword Scabbard Chape Collection
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Comprising: one heater-shaped with openwork raven motif to each face; one similar with openwork raven enmeshed in tendrils; one with fleur-de-lys to the centre of each upper edge and a lobed spur to each side; one with openwork quatrefoil to each face and knop finial to the apex. 145 grams total, 55-85 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Medieval Iron Spur Group
13th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Comprising: one rowel spur with tapering D-section heelband, short shank and arched rowel box with articulated eight-armed rowel, attachment buckle with tongue suspended from integral loop on one arm, two lobed plaques with loops on reverse suspended from integral loops on the other; a spur with D-section heelband and lentoid-section shank, rectangular and quatrefoil openwork, sections of hatching and raised designs to the outer faces. 215 grams total, 16-18 cm
European collection, 1990s. Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.
