Roman Bronze Phallic Pendant

With a rounded body and double nozzle with volutes; the body flat with engraved volutes, raised rim and basal ring; to the rear a large crescent with Jupiter (Greek Zeus) to the centre and his eagle with spread wings before him; the god depicted with thick locks and voluminous beard, the eagle with detailed plumage and finely detailed face; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 1.67 kg, 25.7 wide (3.08 kg total,18 cm high including stand)



Old private British collection, pre-1965. Property of a gentleman; acquired in the UK before 2000. Accompanied by a copy of an old black and white photograph. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12034-215425.

Here Jupiter is represented with his attributes connected with the crescent of goddess Luna. According to Bailey, all lamps in the category to which the map belongs, were intended for suspension. Lamps with multiple nozzles gave more light and thus were suitable for lighting large spaces.

Hollow-formed foot for a lectus couch, the upper square in plan with tongue-shaped opening to the forward face, and vertical strap to the reverse; the foot with four curved claws, bulb knuckles above; open to the underside 558 grams, 11.2 cm



Acquired from Munich and London, 1990s. From the collection of a London, UK, gentleman.

Rectangular with two supporting bars to the underside, extended loop above; enigmatic (Greek) letters to all faces. 63.7 grams, 33 mm



with Hotel des Ventes, Drouot, Paris, France. From the collection of Mr H. Naudy, Paris, France. Acquired at between 2004-2010. Property of a French collector.

This small counter-weight bears letters indicating numbers: on one of the short sides Α (1), Δ (4), Χ (600); on the other short side they worn and difficult to read; and on one of the longer sides Υ (400), φ (500). The other letters are challenging to read, but the object would have been used as unit of measure. Another possibility is that it belonged to a statuette of a man holding a codex ansatus (box with a handle for carrying writing tablets).