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LOT 0831
Roman Bronze Statuette of Attis
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
3 in. (137 grams total, 78 mm high including stand).
Figure standing with left leg advanced, wearing a simple fringed robe clasped at each shoulder; tight-fitting cap with ridge to the top, abundant hair descending to the shoulders; hands to the hips supporting a quantity of bunches of grapes and other fruit; mounted on a custom-made stand. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
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Roman Bronze Lunar Pendant
Circa 2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Comprising a crescentic pendant with applied suspension loop. 9.1 grams, 49 mm
Found Worcestershire, UK. -
Roman Redware Pottery Sherd with Achilles and Thetis
4th-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
From the upper part of a vessel, displaying a frieze of profile images and figural scenes from Graeco-Roman mythology: a musician in late Roman garments playing a harp (Orpheus?), a seated woman weaving with a distaff in her hand (Penelope?), a kneeling naked woman imploring a naked warrior fighting with shield and spear (Achilles and Thetis?). 202 grams, 18 cm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
This terra sigillata fragment appears to have been part of a large tray. Elements of dying paganism were still used to celebrate the deeds of the new imperial heroes. Note the detailed late Roman clothing of the harpist, with a chlamys-paludamentum on the right shoulder and the tunic decorated with clavi and orbiculi. -
Romano-British Marble Head of a Lady
Circa 2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
Carved in the round with fleshy facial features, almond-shaped eyes and small pouting mouth; the hair modelled with hollowed curls above the brow; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 1.6 kg total, 17 cm high including stand
Found Cambridgeshire, UK. From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
These kind of sculptures represented people or divinities of the Roman Britannia. They are found in several civilian tombstones, characterised by provincial style, that was enhanced by colouring which is absent today. The image here represented is a domina (a high-status middle-aged woman) in a typical hairstyle of 2nd-3rd century A.D. (Graham, 1984, p.222). In these provincial artworks the strong influence of the Celtic art is evident, especially in the eyes and hair of the sculpture.
