Roman Bronze Duck's Head Applique

Including clout nail with narrow shank, and other types. 31.4 grams total, 4.9-11.4 cm



Found Roman Palace, Fishbourne, Chichester, Sussex, UK. From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Cup-shaped body with flared and curved rim, flat-section handle with swan-head finial; the body with pierced rosette pattern. 159 grams, 27.4 cm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, 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 search certificate number no.12233-222331. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The edge of a diploma with eight partial lines of text to one side, and six partial lines to the other side; the restored text to the point of textual overlap between obverse and reverse; full stop is used for subscript dot: remains of letter with uncertain reading: Tabella I extrinsecus (obverse): [imp(erator) caes(ar) divi hadriani f(ilius) divi traiani] [part(hici) nepos divi ne]RVA.[e pron(epos) t(itus) aelius] [hadrianus anto]NINVS AVG(ustus) PIVS [pont(ifex) max(imus) trib(unicia) pot(estate) xx i]MP(erator) II CO(n)S(ul) IIII P(ater) P(atriae) [equitib(us) et peditib(us) q]VI MILIT(averunt) IN ALIS [ii quae appell(antur) i claudia] N.OVA MISCELL(anea) [et i gallor(um) flaviana et c]OHORT(ibus) X [v gallor(um) et pannonior(um) et v hisp]ANOR(um) [et i montanor(um) et i antioch(ensium) sagit]T.AR(iorum)1 [et i cretum sagittar(ia) et III campestr(is) c(ivium)] R(omanorum) et ii gallor(um) macedon(ica) et iii britton(um) vet(eranorum) et i aug(usta) lusitanor(um) et i pannonior(um) vet(eranorum) et sunt in moesia sup(eriore)] etc Tabella I intus (reverse): [... et sunt in moesia superior(e) sub] [c]VRTIO. [iusto leg(ato) xxv stip(endis) emer(itis) dimis(sis)] [h]ON(esta) M.[ission(e) quor(um) nomina subscr(ipta)] SVNT C.[ivit(atem) Roman(am) qui eor(um) non haber(ent)] [d]EDIT ET [conub(ium) cum uxorib(us)] [qu]A{s=B} {t=I}VN[c habuis(sent) cum est civit(as) is dat(a) aut cum is] Q.VA{s=C} POST(ea) [duxiss(ent) dumtax(at) singulis] etc on tabella II intus. 7.33 grams, 42 mm



Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a gentleman collector. Accompanied by a copy of an illustrated transliteration report by Dr Ittai Gradel. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Text reconstruction following Eck-Pangerl, ‘Moesia und seine Truppen. Neue Diplome für Moesia und Moesia Superior’, Chiron 38 (2008), 369-77 – all these fragments naming Curtius Iustus go back to a constitutio dated 23. April 157 (see Eck-Pangerl for discussion: they list nine copies, including a complete one; this is the second largest number known of any constitutio; yet another – the tenth - copy published by Eck-MacDonald-Pangerl in ZPE 165 (2008), 237-9).