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LOT 0708
Roman 'Camp Capchoke' Artefact Collection
1ST-4TH CENTURY A.D.
3 1/8 x 2 3/8 x 1 3/8 in. (48 grams total, 79 x 59 x 34 mm).
Including fragment of greyware pottery rim, glass oblate and other beads, a bone phallus amulet and other items; with late 19th century handwritten label 'Pottery / Roman Camp/ Capchoke' and 'Mr Stirling / St Boswells' inked to verso, along with postage tag attached with Victorian postage stamp stamped 'St Boswells 5th July 1896'. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound at Camp Capchoke in the 19th century.
From the collection of Mr Stirling of St Boswells, UK, circa 1896, thence by descent.
Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK, formed since 1985.
Accompanied by a handwritten provenance note.
Cf. Crummy, N., Greep, S., Hassall, M., Henig, M., Major, H., Webster, G., Wild, J.P., Colchester Archaeological Report 2: the Roman small finds from excavations in Colchester 1971-1979, Colchester, 1983, fig.32, no.524, for similar.
FootnotesSt Boswells is situated a few miles from Melrose, Scotland. Gadrooned beads like the ones here illustrated are found in 1st and 2nd century contexts and seem to have been introduced into this country at the conquest. Most are made of turquoise frit, which often decays to white. The dark blue glass here illustrated finds a perfect parallel with a specimen found in Colchester.
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Fragment of wall plaster with rendered surface painted red with yellow and white detailing to the edge; impression of timber laths to the reverse; old inked inscription: 'SIDI BOU ALI' to verso. 234 grams, 11.3 cm
Acquired early 1900s. Swiss family collection. Acquired at Birmingham Coin & Antiquities Fair, circa 2004. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK.
The ancient city of Sousse (today Sidi Bou Ali) was the Roman centre of Ulssipira, famous for its wonderful mosaics. However, as across Roman Tunisia, remains of frescoed houses have also been preserved. The ‘Pompeian red’ was used for walls as well as columns, such as those in the ‘house of the red columns’, Acholla, where the peristyle was formed by a narrow courtyard with stuccoed columns painted red. -
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