Roman Bronze Openwork Key Handle

Modelled in the round as a standing eagle with its wings spread, the overlapping wingtips covering the short tail; incised feather detailing to the body and wings, wide head with detailed eyes, remains of a military insignia (a victory wreath or fish?) held in its hooked beak; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 180 grams total, 76 mm high including stand



Found Kempsey, Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.WAW-19C7C8. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Both Ovid and Plutarch place the inception of manipular ensigns with Romulus, where bundles (manipuli) of hay were tied to high poles which served as rallying points for units of the army. Eventually, icons of animals replaced these ensigns: the eagle, wolf, Minotaur, horse, and boar. In 107 B.C., Gaius Marius made sweeping military reforms and the Aquila became the sole standard of the legion, which according to (Pliny NH. 10.5.16) ‘By making the Aquila the standard for all legions improved unity and gave soldiers a symbol that expressed their attachment to an all-encompassing body, to which the soldiers’ loyalty could be directed’. Due to its place at the head of each legion, it became the emblem of the Roman legions, which enforced Roman rule in the provinces, giving the eagle its connotation of dominion.

A hollow-form figural group comprising an advancing old King Priam with his right arm raised, wearing a belted tunic and a diadem, hair arranged in orderly locks; behind him a smaller figure of a soldier wearing a plumed Pseudo-Attic helmet; the hand of the warrior is holding the old king; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 291 grams total, 18.5 cm high including stand



Private Swiss collection, 1971. with Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, Switzerland. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The scene probably represents the old King Priam's plea to Achilles' son, Neoptolemus, to spare his son Polites, whom the Greek warrior is about to kill. It is made in a strong classical style with precise costume details, such as the royal diadem, the long sleeved Phrygian-type tunic and the king's belt.

An iridescent glass unguentarium with piriform body, tubular neck with everted rolled rim. 19.7 grams, 83 mm



Acquired on the European art market in 2001. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.