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LOT 0107
Roman Bronze Strigil
2ND CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.
7 1/2 in. (46 grams, 19 cm).
With C-section profile to the blade, rectangular handle with flare to the upper end, old notch to one edge, repaired.
ProvenanceEx collection Dr. Kuhn-Lucht, Germany.
with Kölner Munzkabinett, Cologne, before 2016.
Private European collection.
An emblematic instrument of the ancient sporting world, the strigil was mainly used by athletes as a scraper for personal hygiene. After training, which took place in the gymnasiums on tracks and arenas covered with sand, athletes and young people rubbed their skin with olive oil. They then used one of these distinctive scrapers remove the sand-oil mixture before washing in water. These actions are reproduced on famous statues (including Apoxyomenos, one of Lysippus’ masterpieces), on reliefs (such as funerary steles) as well as on countless vase paintings. In Attic and Italian red-figure imagery, the strigil is often depicted on perfume vases, like the aryballos and alabastron.
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AUCTIONS:
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Romano-British 'Colchester' Roof Tile Sherd
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Rectangular in plan with lip to one edge; marked 'Burn scars' and wth white inked inscription: 'Tile from Boudiccan revolt level: Cups Hotel Excavation, Colchester'. 829 grams, 18.7 cm
Found Colchester, Essex, UK. 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. -
Romano-British Samian Ware Sherd Group
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Including burnished rim and base fragments, all but two with inked or pencilled reference notations including 'Col' for Colchester, 'GRA' and BLACKFRIARS LEZ/52'. 1.12 kg total, 5.5-13.5 cm
Found UK. 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. -
Roman Bone Pyxis with Lion Heads
Circa 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Carved with thick rim to each end, ogee above the base and double band beneath the mouth; two facing lion masks modelled in high-relief, each with gaping jaws and a ring held between the jaws; disc to the base, domed lid. 39.7 grams, 71 mm
From the old collection of Colonel Ronde, circa 1980s. Property of a French collector. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12094-214901.
According to archaeologists, the pyxis could have served as a container for cosmetics, medicinal ointments, or perfume. Soldiers’ posessions often included carved vessels and lathe-turned bowls, spoons, spatulas, knives, discs and lids, as well as pyxides, which have been found in high numbers in military camps.
