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LOT 0814
Roman Bronze Bear-Head Dagger Pommel
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
1 3/4 in. (29.5 grams, 44 mm).
Hollow-formed with acute lower jaw, triangular muzzle, gusset and rounded rim to the socket-mouth. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceProperty of a Gloucestershire, UK, collector.
Property of an East Sussex, UK, gentleman.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Bronze Plate Brooch Colection
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
One tinned with central boss; one bell-shaped with glass inlay; another shaped as an amphora with remains of enamelling. 12 grams total, 22-38 mm
Ex property of an Austrian private collector since the 1970s. -
Roman and Later Lead Weight Collection
1st-18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Including tabular, plano-convex and conical types. 889 grams total, 20-45 mm
Found whilst fieldwalking in Somerset and Devon, UK. -
Roman Votive Hand to God Sabazios
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
Hollow-formed right hand from a statuette, with fingers splayed and flat palm, good anatomical detailing. 362 grams, 12.1 cm
Private collection 1990s. Ex London, UK, gallery.
The votive character of the hand could link it to the God Sabazios, often associated with a number of archaeological finds depicting a bronze, right hand in the benedictio latina gesture. The hand appears to have had ritual significance and may have been affixed to a sceptre (as the one carried by Sabazios on a slab, one from Philippopolis, nowadays Plovdiv in Bulgaria). The association with Sabazios is sometimes suggested in similar hands, by the presence of a snake embossed around the circumference of the hand, because the iconic image of the god or hero on horseback battling the chthonic serpent, appears on Celtic-Roman votive columns, and with the coming of Christianity it was easily adapted to the representations of Saint George fighting the Dragon.