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LOT 0666
Roman Bronze Bowl with Concentric Circles
1ST CENTURY A.D.
3 1/4 in. (142 grams, 83 mm).
With flat base and central boss, flared rim, incised rings to the inner face.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
Cf. Tassinari, S., La Vaisselle de Bronze, Romaine et Provinciale, au Musée des Antiquités Nationales, XXIXe supplément de Gallia, Paris, 1975, items 88,90, for similar types.
FootnotesThe function of Roman vessels is not always precise, as well as the separation between culinary forms and forms for domestic use, those of the kitchen and those of the table. Many bronzes belonged to table service (like perhaps this splendidly preserved example), others to objects of usual worship (patera) or washing, while basins, plates and crockery found their place above all in the kitchen.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Silver Miniature Herm
1st-3rd century A.D.Estimate: £2,500 - 3,500 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,000
Comprising a square-section tapering body with lateral stub arms; head of Mercury (Greek Hermes) above with applied twisted gold collar, low-relief shoulder panels, genitals modelled in the round, low-relief horned figure below. 27 grams, 52 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. From the family collection of Mr S.A., Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12103-218207.
This object, was likely votive and perhaps belonged to a small domestic altar of the Roman imperial era, reproduced in miniature size a Hermaic pillar. These were terminals made of stone or wood which were often placed on the roads, near crossings; they served to indicate the right path and therefore were supposed to protect travellers when traveling. In Roman times, these pillars were often topped with busts or portraits and were also found in the gardens of wealthy homes; gods (Hermes and Bacchus in particular) or philosophers were the subjects thus represented. -
Roman Inscribed Wooden Wax Tablet, a Legal Document
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,460
An untranslated reused tablet with a recessed panel with traces of more than 15 lines with the remains of letters written in cursive script, originally the panel was covered by a layer of wax, with a stylus the writer scratched the text into the soft wax and often also into the wooden ground, as such tablets were normally reused several times, traces of different texts can be found on the wooden surface, four lines of large inked text to verso, a record of a transaction in a formulaic legal language; either from a legal document comprising two (diptychon) or three (triptychon) panels; pierced three times for attachment. 20.6 grams 13 x 13 cm
From an important London collection since 1975. Accompanied by a collection of eight 1970s photographs of the the tablet.
The contract follows the standard Roman legal formulae. -
Romano-British Bronze Axe-Shaped Votive Pendant
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
With trapezoidal blade and pierced lug above; 1.21 grams, 17 mm
Found near Wetwang, East Yorkshire, UK, in 2005. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK.