Roman Bronze Medical Ligula Instrument

Matched pair, each comprising a tubular shank with hook-and-eye closure, free-running dangle with pearl bead and granule cluster below. 3.94 grams total, 50 mm each



Private collection, 1990s-early 2000s. with Gorny and Mosch, Munich, 14 December 2010, no.160. Accompanied by copies of the Gorny and Mosch catalogue pages.

Including aqua glass stopper with knop handle, plano-convex spindle whorl with iridescent surface and other items; probably used as counters in boardgames. 32 grams total, 9-27 mm



From the private collection of Mr Brian Edwards, New Malden, Surrey, UK, formed from the late 1970s-early 1980s; thence by descent. Accompanied by the original collector's data sheet(s) with reference nos.A70, A99, & A118.

An oval intaglio depicting Mithras, a snake and a dog killing a bull, six stars on the field; set in a later gold ring; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 9.93 grams, 23.61 mm overall, 18.88 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R 1/2, USA 8 3/4, Europe 19.38, Japan 18)



English private collection. Reportedly acquired several decades ago in Covent Garden, London, still mounted in its original, heavily corroded iron ring; removed from this setting and remounted in a gold ring in recent years by the owner, a commercial airline pilot. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13325-28218.

The interpretation of the Mithraic tauroctony has long been the subject of scholarly debate. The Belgian historian of religions and orientalist Franz Cumont (1868–1947) was the first to propose that the scene should be understood as an astral allegory rather than a purely mythological episode. More recently, David Ulansey developed this hypothesis by interpreting the tauroctony as a symbolic representation of the precession of the equinoxes. In his reading, Mithras—identified with the constellation Perseus—embodies the supreme cosmic power capable of moving the sphere of the fixed stars, while the slaying of the bull symbolises the transition from one cosmic age to another, expressing Mithras' dominion over the celestial order itself.