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LOT 0645
Roman Bronze Platter Group
CIRCA 2ND-4TH CENTURY A.D.
11 5/8 - 17 3/4 in. (1.4 kg total, 29.5-45 cm).
Comprising: one shallow circular platter, one oval-shaped with lobed handles decorated with a flowering plant with scrolling leaves; both cracked. [2]
ProvenanceAcquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Redware Bowl Fragment with Hippocampus and Standing Nereid
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
From the upper part of a vessel with two hippocampi (one partial) and a standing figure of a Nereid, floral and foliage decoration to the field, ornamental upper border; repaired. 77 grams, 12 cm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister
The complete vessel probably represented scenes linked with the cult of Poseidon and Amphitrite. The riches of the sea and the dangers of navigation were merged by the ancients into a myth of great fame known as the wedding procession between Poseidon - brother of Zeus and Hades, god of the sea and the Nereid Amphitrite. The Nereids were the divinities of the sea, grandchildren of the ocean. Like the nymphs, all the Nereids were beautiful young women who spent their time singing or weaving. Also involved in the procession were the tritons and hippocampi, who provocatively played shells or were ridden by Nereids. -
Roman Glass Unguentarium
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Piriform with slender tubular neck and everted rim; some iridescent surfaces. 15.5 grams, 98 mm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Large Roman Bronze Basilisk
4th century A.D.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £278
The upper body, neck and head of a mythical basilisk (cockatrice), modelled in the round with the body of a serpent and head of a cockerel, the body with a tapering round-section profile, stylised detailing to the head. 260 grams, 88 mm
‘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.
The basilisk, known from the Renaissance onwards as a cockatrice, was a Graeco-Roman mythical two-legged dragon or serpent-like creature with a cock's head. It had the reputed ability to kill people by either looking at them, touching them, or sometimes breathing on them. According to legend a cockatrice would die instantly upon hearing a rooster crow, and having a cockatrice looking at itself in a mirror was one of the few sure ways to kill it.
