Roman Bronze Standing Ram

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.

Comprising a flat-section hoop and rectangular panel, short shank and disc-shaped head with cruciform void and pellets in the interstitial quadrants. 3.98 grams, 17.81 mm overall, 15.08 mm internal diameter (approximate size British H 1/2, USA 4, Europe 6.81, Japan 6)



Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.

Comprising a squat body with thick nozzle and lug handle, band of leaves and bunches of grapes to the discus, surrounding a bust of Serapis with modius and radiate crown; maker's initials to the underside 'S. S. L.'. 145 grams, 12.2 cm wide

Fine condition.

Ex London gallery 1980s. From the collection of a deceased Lancashire gentleman.

Serapis was a Graeco-Egyptian god, whose cult was popularised during the 3rd century B.C. on the orders of Ptolemy I of Egypt, to facilitate the religious syncretism of his kingdom. During the Roman Empire his image was widely diffused in the east, and the image of Zeus-Serapis was often fitted with the radiate crown, linking it with the cult of Sol Invictus; the position as the main divinity of the Roman Pantheon strengthened by Lucius Domitius Aurelian (270-275 A.D.).