Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 0171
Roman Bronze Wild Boar Chariot Fitting Pair
CIRCA 2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
8 7/8 in. (1.13 kg total, 22.5 cm high including stand).
Matched pair of chariot fittings, each formed as the head and forelegs of a boar with open mouth and prominent tusks, developing to a crescentic square-section body with knop finial, supported on a column and square-section tiered base; mounted on custom-made display stands. [2, No Reserve]
Provenance
Ex Ancient Art, North London, 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.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12058-212073.
Literature
Cf. chariot fittings in the form of the foreparts of horses in the British Museum, London, under accession no.1873,0820.165; a very similar example is visible in the Museum of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, in two bronze decorations with boar's head from a chariot found in Trite Mogili locality, cf. V.I.Ignatov, Funeral complexes with carts in the Roman province of Thrace (mid 1st - 3rd century c.), Sofia, 2018, pl.26, for this one and other similar examples (especially 6.3.1.3.1).
Footnotes
The fittings were possibly part of a decoration of a Thraco-Roman chariot. Sometimes the ends of the yokes were covered with bronze toppers geometrically shaped or decorated with figures of a lion, a wild boar (our example), a goat, etc. Often, instead of these toppers, there were the so-called bronze distributors. Some were without decoration and others had geometric decoration. The most common ones were those sculpted as two opposing panthers (rarely lions).
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine 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:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
RELATED LOTS
-
Roman Inked Wooden Tablet, a Legal Document from the Rascotiano Estate
4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £13,000
A reused tablet with a recessed panel on one side, the last tablet of a legal document which consisted of two (diptychon) or three tablets (triptychon); ten black inked lines of New Roman cursive script, the end of a record of a transaction in a highly formulaic legal language, confirmed between heirs and elders (heredes et seniores), negotiated on an estate called Rascotiano; one edge irregular, pierced for addition of a thong or string. 23.7 grams, 12.3 x 12.5 cm
From an important London collection since 1975. Accompanied by a collection of eighteen 1970s photographs of the the tablet.
The contract follows standard Roman legal formulae. -
Roman Pale Blue Glass Unguentarium
1st-2nd century A.D.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
With piriform lower body, extended cylindrical neck and flange rim; iridescent surfaces. 25.4 grams, 12 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Roman Silver Statuette of a Genius
1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £546
Advancing wearing an ankle-length toga drawn over the head as a cowl, the left hand supporting a partly-unfurled scroll; mounted on a custom-made stand. 149 grams total, 88 mm high including stand
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.
The statuette represents a priest dressed in a tunic and large cloak, the hem of which covers the head (capite velato). His right hand had to hold a portion of incense, while with his left hand he holds a container for the same incense.