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LOT 0811
Roman Bronze Artefact Group
MAINLY 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
5/8 - 1 1/4 in. (48 grams total, 15-33 mm).
Mixed group of votives including a hare, bull, axe and other items. [6, No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Silver Crossbow Brooch
3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
With round-section crossbar and collared knop finials, deep D-section bow with vertical band of triangles extending along the outer face and onto the rectangular footplate with chamfered long edges; separate collared knop above the bow; hinged pin housed in catchplate to reverse. 16.5 grams, 60 mm
On the European art market before 2000. Ex collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman; acquired on the UK art market.
This early form of crossbow brooch shows its origins in the P-shaped bow brooch type. -
Roman Bronze Dolphin Figure
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Hollow to the underside with rectangular-section tapering panel, S-curved dolphin with prominent dorsal fin, low-relief eyes; probably a furniture fitting. 129 grams, 96 mm
Private collection of Mr S.A., Switzerland, 1990s, thence by descent. -
Roman Silver Crossbow Brooch
3rd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
Parcel-gilt crossbow brooch with onion-shaped knops to the ends of the headplate and medially along the top edge; deep trapezoidal-section bow with median gusset; D-section footplate with chamfered sides open to one edge; upper part of one face of the bow with niello-filled running scroll design, lower part of the other face with running guilloche; beaded wire collar at the end. 14.6 grams, 46 mm
Ex N.C. collection. Acquired on the Swiss art market in 2000. European private collection.
Crossbow fibulae of this type were worn by high officers and, if in gold, even emperors, from Constantine to Justinian, as symbols of military rank. These fibulae are an important element in the graves, for the classification of the category of the dead, as belonging to the militia (armed or not); many of them were in gold, or gilded silver, and decorated with an inscription.
