Roman Bronze Bust of Athena

Rectangular in plan with transverse piercing, three ring-and-dot marks to each broad face. 1.65 grams, 13 mm



From a collection of gaming items, formed 1980-1990s.

With incuse profile female bust with copious tiered curls and braids, palla to the shoulder; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 3.06 grams, 21 mm



Ex London, UK, gentleman, 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13002-244442.

Julia Domna (170-217 A.D.) was one of the most honoured imperial women in the course of the Principate. Almost 600 inscriptions bear her name; numerous coin types portray her together with the emperors; important artworks where she is depicted (such as the Kassel Cameo, the Arch of the Argentarii and the Severan Arch in Leptis Magna) demonstrate that she occupied no secondary position in the Severan regime. She appears, consequently, to be a key figure of this period.

Square plaque from a baldric or military belt, with an engraved circle in the centre depicting a shepherd resting under a tree with two crossed branches, leaning on his staff with a greyhound beside him. 48.7 grams, 66 mm



From a UK collection since before 1990.

The plaque is related to a series of late Antique bronze plates destined to decorate the military baldrics or belts. Some of them were found in a late Roman tomb in Totanés (Toledo), ornamented with busts, and a plaque from Merida (Badajoz) was decorated with the personification of Rome. The plaque is related to similar ones from Italian and Syrian-Palestinian workshops, whose ornamentation seems sometimes to be connected to imperial authority. Parallels are linked to similar pieces of different iconographic types, but which were equally popular in the late Roman Empire, such as hunting or bucolic motifs.