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LOT 0707
Roman Bronze Horse Head Protome
1ST-4TH CENTURY A.D.
1 3/4 in. (102 grams, 46 mm).
Modelled with naturalistic detailing with signs of attachment.
Provenance‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0707
Roman Bronze Horse Head Protome
Estimate £200 - 300€230 - 350 (for guidance only)$270 - 410 (for guidance only)
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Roman Terracotta Frieze Fragment with Bird
3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Showing the figure of a bird enclosed inside a medallion, with edges decorated with a foliage, moulded grooves in the upper part, remains of red pigment on the dividing space. 643 grams, 12.5 cm
Acquired from Millon Arts D'Orient, with lot sticker. Property of a Ruislip, UK, gentleman, by inheritance.
The motif of a bird enclosed in a roundel draws inspiration from Parthian and Sassanid art, and decorated the ceilings of Roman Hellenistic tombs and temples of the Roman East. Our fragment could have been part of the polychrome stucco decoration of the ceiling of a tomb, or a square insert in a temple building. It certainly had to be painted in showy colours, of which clear traces remain in the amaranth red on the right of the fragment and in the pink and blue traces visible on the bird. -
Roman Redware Sherd Group with Lions
4th-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
The larger fragment with stepped neck and rim, bearing a leaping lion right in raised relief; the smaller fragment with leonine protome; both in terra sigillata africana; modern suspension loop to reverse. 54 grams total, 35-60 mm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
The most ancient production of red African ware began in the Flavian Age. Towards the second half of the 3rd century A.D. – but most probably before – the production reached its zenith and African redware pottery was imported from all the Imperial provinces. -
Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Eros Harassing a Bird in a Tree
1st-3rd century A.D.Estimate: £600 - 800 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £333
The oval intaglio engraved with nude Eros, holding a fowling-rod, approaching a tree with a bird, a line marking the ground. 0.56 grams, 14 mm
Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Important North West London collection.
Doves are a typical attribute of Aphrodite, and real birds were often given to women as love-tokens; this bezel was possibly destined to a ring used for this purpose. At the same time, the presence of Eros was presumably intended to enhance the wearer’s personal allure.