Roman Bronze Ring with Palm Branch

Section of the rim with carination below, high-relief dolphin with its tail curled over above its head. 77 grams, 13 cm



From the collection of a late East Anglian teacher and antiquarian who retired to the Isle of Wight in Hampshire, UK. He amassed a large collection of objects between the 1960s-1980s.

With three extendable legs each topped with bust of Bacchus, his long hair collected in a crown of vine leaves and branches, wearing a panther skin exomis; the feet formed as feline paws; the middle part of the frontal leg formed as an S-curve topped with a panther's head with open jaws; restored. 9.9 kg, 101 cm

Traces of gilding over all the whole surface, fine condition, restored, excessively rare.

Ex collection of Dr Djafari (1900-1981), Kaiserslautern, Germany. 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.11801-206499.

Folding tripod stands were well known in the ancient world, in both Greek and Roman contexts. These folding supports for tables, bracers and cauldrons are known finds from important excavations in the Roman world, like Pompeii. The purpose of such folding stands varied: during the meal they were placed between the triclinary beds, and bowls and application plates were hung to the hooks at the back of the holders, here shaped like the heads of a Bacchus. They were also used for the fire in military encampments, or in the temples of the gods. Others were used as the support frames for bronze bowls, either for washing or for ritual purposes. Many were offered as funerary gifts, like the splendid example in the chariot grave of Környe. Roman folding tripods were also used in religious rituals (here clearly linked to the cult of the god of wine, as shown by the presence of panthers) and sacrifices. Burnt offerings and libations were offered to the gods in cauldrons that would have been attached to the hooks behind the heads on the upper section.

Carved head of a prepubescent worshipper of Isis, with soft facial features, long nose, small downturned mouth, heavy-lidded eyes, the whole giving the face a sombre or mournful appearance; the hair textured to indicate a short cut and combed forward across the scalp, sidelock above the right ear; mounted on a 16th century carved breccia upper body with leather cuirass and pteruges to right shoulder, cloak draped across the shoulders and fastened at the clavicle on the right side with a disc-brooch; socle base; some restoration. 19.6 kg total, 51.5 cm including stand



North German private collection, 1970s, and thence by descent. Antiquities, Bonhams, London, 5 October 2011, no.136. 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.12185-222445.

The child is depicted as a worshipper of Isis with the right side of the head signalling that the boy was a devotee of the goddess’s cult. The head of the boy is probably a funerary portrait, and it is clearly in the first half of 3rd century style. Its resemblance to the portrait of Gordian III on the so-called sarcophagus of Acilia is impressive, so much so that this was probably the reason for which the head was incorporated within a military bust in the 16th century.