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LOT 0640
Roman Bronze Lion's Head Casket Mount
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
2 1/8 in. (168 grams, 55 mm).
Domed in profile with concentric stepped tiers and hatched fur texture, central lion-mask with lateral piercings for the muzzle, slightly flared rim; lead plug to interior. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound Wiltshire, UK, before 1974.
LiteratureCf. Menzel, H., Römische Bronzen in Speyer, Mainz, 1960; Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 413.
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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Roman Bronze ROMA Brooch
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
The discoid body formed as an openwork monogram ROMA in Latin letters, the M and A ligated, the O formed by the brooch frame itself; ROMA also a palindrome for AMOR. 13.9 grams, 32 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.
The brooch is engraved with stylised letters ‘RMA’. When viewed from the default side, RMA + the circle of the brooch form a monogram for ‘Roma’. Roma refers to both the city and its divine personification, the Dea Roma. When RMA is read from right to left (or the brooch is viewed from the opposite side), the letters form a monogram for ‘AMOR’, the Latin name for Cupid, the god of love. The phrase pertains to Roma-Amor, a widely recognised palindrome espousing Roman wordplay in the ancient times. -
Roman and Other Bead Necklace
1st-4th century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £59
Restrung designer necklace with fusiform and graduated seed beads, the centrepiece a hollow-formed rim fragment. 12.3 grams, 31.5 cm
Acquired on the London, UK, art market in the 1990s. Ex London, UK, gallery. -
Roman Bronze Harpocrates Statuette
3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
Modelled nude in advancing pose with right arm bent across the body and fist clenched to support an attribute (absent); the facial details in light relief and small forelock to the brow; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 231 grams total, 12 cm high including stand
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
The cult of Harpocrates, began in Ptolemaic times, expanding considerably in the Imperial Roman period, and absorbing influences from the cult of ram of Mendes, the ithyphallic Min, the crocodile god Sobek, and Hercules. The missing left hand probably held a small cornucopia.