Roman Bronze Eagle on Globe Statuette

Displaying an possibly unfinished scene composed of robed warriors or other figures wearing Phrygian caps, wide tunics with segmenta, oriental trousers (anaxyrida) and tugging on a rope; later attachment loop to the reverse. 163 grams, 10.1 cm



Acquired 1960s-1990s. From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.

The scene probably represents an episode of the Trojan cycle, with the Trojans (usually represented in Late Antiquity with a Phrygian cap, wide sleeved tunics and Persian-style trousers) dragging the wooden horse inside the walls of Troy. In the late Roman Empire the Trojan cycle became often the subject of artistic representations, such as the famous Ilias Ambrosiana now preserved in Milan, or the miniatures of the Vergilius Romanus.

Carved facing left, with deep-set hooded eyes and a hooked beak, stylised feather detailing to the head; mounted on a custom-made display base. 1.88 kg total, 23 cm high including stand



Ex Simmons Gallery, London E11, UK. Ex London collection, 1980s-1990s.

In the Greco-Roman world, the eagle was the symbol of Zeus. It is most probable that this eagle flanked a statue of the god. A story is bruited abroad to the effect that Zeus, wanting to determine the centre of the world, let eagles fly of equal speed from west and east. The birds, flying in opposite directions, met at Pytho and that marked the central point of the whole world.

Composed of a variety of ring types and sizes from various time periods, including examples with decorative bezels. 86 grams total, 14-24 mm



Acquired on the German art market around 2000s. From the collection of an EU gentleman living in the UK.