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LOT 0078
Roman Bronze Scallop Shell Attachment Pair
CIRCA 2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
5 in. (343 grams total, 12.5 cm each).
Each composed of shell-shaped body with a D-shaped lug to reverse, the lug with tapering spike to the centre. [2]
ProvenancePrivate collection, Rosenheim, Germany, 1960s.
LiteratureCf. Boucher, S., Inventaire des Collections Publiques Françaises - 17 Vienne: Bronzes Antiques, Paris, 1971, items 658ff., pp.200-201.
FootnotesThis pair could have been used as a double key or door lock, based on comparison with some keys from the territory of Gaul (Boucher, 1971, pp.200-201). They comprised a strong ring with polygonal-section stem and a rectangular point.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0078
Roman Bronze Scallop Shell Attachment Pair
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000€2,320 - 3,480 (for guidance only)$2,700 - 4,050 (for guidance only)
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Roman Bronze Ring with Eros Riding a Dolphin Gemstone
2nd century A.D.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £83
With inset burnt white stone cloison. 9.42 grams, 20.30 mm overall, 13.82 x 16.27 mm internal diameter (approximate size British H, USA 3 3/4, Europe 6.18, Japan 6)
Fine condition.
Acquired 1970's. Ex UK collection. Property of a Portsmouth, UK gentleman. -
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Roman Bronze Animal Collection
1st-4th century A.D.Estimate: £600 - 800 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £333
Comprising: a squirrel nibbling a nut; a rabbit; a monkey with its hands covering its eyes; a mounting lug formed as a beast with outstretched legs; with an earlier Eastern ladle finial terminating in a beast's head. 119 grams total, 28-50 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. -
Roman Bronze Phallic Mask Pendant
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £416
Displaying the face of a bearded god, possibly Cernunnos or Pan, with curly hair and two horns in the shape of phallus; suspension ring to the top. 25.6 grams, 45 mm
Acquired in the 1990s. Ex property of a UK gentleman.
The head displays typical features associated with Romano-Celtic art, such as the lentoid eyes and the schematic rendering of the hair and beard. The head could be that of Pan, god of the wild countryside and of fertility in nature, thus making the phalli-shaped horns appropriate. It could also represent the Celtic god Cernunnos, a Gallic deity whose worship is known from Britain and the Continent from a number of monuments, inscriptions and figurines, as well as on the famous Gundestrup cauldron found in a bog in Denmark. His name means "the Horned One", and is depicted as a bearded male wearing a torc around his neck and with large horns or antlers on his head. Representations of him are known from as early as the fourth century B.C. from the Paspardo rock carving at Val Camonica, Northern Italy. Other representations include the monument set up by Parisian sailors which was discovered underneath Notre Dame cathedral, and the relief carving from Cirencester where his legs are in the form of two snakes. The Celts' preoccupation with fecundity caused them on occasions to represent their male gods with oversized phalli, and a bronze figure of Mercury from Tongres, France, depicts the god with two phalli on his head.
