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LOT 0125
Roman Bronze Horse-Head Mount
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
2 1/2 in. (106 grams, 63 mm).
Hollow-formed mount formed as a crescent with horse-head finial modelled with flying mane and mouth open; to the rear, a deep flared socket with dentilled rim.
ProvenanceAcquired on the German art market, 1989-1995.
with The Museum Gallery, 19 Bury Place, London, WC1A 2JB, 1998-2003.
Property of a London based academic, 2003-present.
Cf. Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 250, for similar mount.
FootnotesThis is beautiful Roman workmanship, probably derived from Hellenistic prototypes, which finds comparisons in similar mounts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the British Museum. It could be a bed mount (for bed or triclinium) or a furniture element. It is also possible that it was a cart or chariot element.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0125
Roman Bronze Horse-Head Mount
Estimate £1,200 - 1,700€1,390 - 1,970 (for guidance only)$1,620 - 2,300 (for guidance only)
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Roman Silver Ring with Portrait Gemstone
Circa 200 A.D.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £444
Ellipsoid jasper insert with profile portrait bust of a female with tiered hairstyle and palla. 9.85 grams, 25.65 mm overall, 17.84 mm internal diameter (approximate size British G, USA 3 1/4, Europe 4.92, Japan 4)
From a London gentleman's, UK, collection, in the 1990s. -
Roman Bronze Ring with Gryphon and Shield Gemstone
Mid 3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £442
With a possibly later inset red jasper plaque with incuse gryphon supporting a shield or spoked wheel. 9.94 grams, 23.87 mm overall, 16.67 mm internal diameter (approximate size British H, USA 3 3/4, Europe 6.18, Japan 6)
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman 'Pompeii Red' Fresco Wallplaster
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Fragment of wall plaster with rendered surface painted red with yellow and white detailing to the edge; impression of timber laths to the reverse; old inked inscription: 'SIDI BOU ALI' to verso. 234 grams, 11.3 cm
Acquired early 1900s. Swiss family collection. Acquired at Birmingham Coin & Antiquities Fair, circa 2004. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK.
The ancient city of Sousse (today Sidi Bou Ali) was the Roman centre of Ulssipira, famous for its wonderful mosaics. However, as across Roman Tunisia, remains of frescoed houses have also been preserved. The ‘Pompeian red’ was used for walls as well as columns, such as those in the ‘house of the red columns’, Acholla, where the peristyle was formed by a narrow courtyard with stuccoed columns painted red.
