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_900x900.jpg "Roman Bronze Bear-Head Dagger Pommel")
_200x200.jpg "Roman Bronze Bear-Head Dagger Pommel")
.jpg "Roman Bronze Bear-Head Dagger Pommel")
LOT 0796
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.
See similar mounts in shape of eagle from Cerne Abbas, in Worrell, S., Worrell, 'Roman Britain in 2005. II. Finds reported under the Portable Antiquities Scheme', in Britannia, 37 (2006), pp.429-466, p.457, fig.27
FootnotesThe function of the animal head terminal in the form of a stylised eagle or griffin head found in the canabae at Caerleon was interpreted as
a possible pommel for a sword or other weapon due to the rectangular hole at the top of the head for a tang or other attachment.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Bronze Figure of Dionysus Child with Silver Inlays
1st century A.D.Estimate: £1,800 - 2,400 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £900
Modelled in the round, a male infant with arms and right leg extended, left leg bent and raised; head looking downwards, with applied silver scales imitating a wreath; sturdy mounting peg to the reverse. 70.1 grams, 61 mm
Acquired on the German art market, 2002. European private collection. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12053-211904.
The model appears to form part of a figural group. -
Roman Blue Glass Bead Necklace String
1st-4th century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £26
Restrung designer necklace of graduated annular and tubular beads with a milky blue oval pendant. 15.07 grams, 38 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Roman Bronze Military Belt Mount Collection
4th-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Comprising: an amphora-shaped strap end decorated with rings and dots, the centre ornamented by a star surrounded by small dots and circles; a shield-shaped strap end, with a concave crescent on each side; an openwork decorated fitting with a kidney shaped motif in each quarter; a shield-shaped decorated strap end, with kidney-shaped openwork design; and a propeller shaped mount. 75 grams total, 29-66 mm
From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968.
In Britain like in all of the West, all the elements intended for the embellishment of belts and harnesses also evolved towards new forms, the geometry of which bears witness to strong Germanic influences. Beside the typical propeller stiffener belts (Richborough), probably of Danubian origin, we have less ornate wide-belt types, represented by the Winchester example. Belt-plaques of triangular shape, often gilded, beast-shaped at the extremity, were excavated in the south of Britain (Cirencester). Rigid belt-plates with the buckle shaped like a dolphin came from Richborough, Wye and Sleaford (class 3, type B, Sommer), Tripontium, Mucking, Wycombe, Alwalton (type I-B, Hawkes, also in Richborough) and type Mainz, Savgar, Totanés (Colchester, often with associated propeller stiffeners). Type Hawkes I-A and I-B present similarities with the Simancas typologies, found in Lankhills. The type Tirig is attested at Lydney Park, the Böhme A in Richborough. Strap ends are usually heart-shaped or amphora-shaped (Richborough). These belt fittings were characteristic of the Roman army in Britain at the beginning of the 5th century.
