Roman Carnelian Intaglio with Vulcan

An attractive rectangular panel of mosaic tesserae with central ribbed kantharos executed in coral pink, amber-yellow, and green segments with tiered foot; issuing from the scaphoid opening two vines with curled tendrils and trefoil leaves in pale green; white field with grey-black border; restored and set into a mid 20th century reinforced mortar matrix. 56 kg, 67.5 x 67.5 cm



Acquired in the 1950s-early 1990s. From the Igor Karmiloff (1925-2016) collection, UN economist and author of Flashbacks, Icons of Impermanence, Bloomington, 2009. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12746-233888. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The motif of the kantharos, krater or amphora with vines emerging from the mouth is widely represented in classical art and was seemingly a popular motif for the mosaicist with examples found in areas as widespread as North Africa and northern Britain. The origins of the motif are probably to be found in the cult of Bacchus (Greek Dionysos) with its ritualised drunkenness expressed in the vine which gives rise to the grapes to be transformed into wine, and the drinking cup from which it is received. In later Roman times, the motif was reinterpreted as Christ (the Eucharist symbolised by the cup) from whom the vine grows representing the spread of the Christian message and the growth of the church (Watts, 1991, p.208).

Each rectangular with raised upper lip and a raised decorative frieze with rosettes and a bull's head (bucranium) separated by triple pilasters. 76.2 kg total, 76.5 cm each



with Georges Joseph Demotte (1877-1923) and Andrée Macé (1918-2000), Belgium and New York. Collection Demotte/Andrée Macé; Jean-Claude Renard Auction, Suresnes, 3 September 2013, no.87. with Galerie Chenel, Paris, 2021. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12624-236336. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

In classical Rome bovine skulls decorated the friezes of entablatures. Often, they were positioned in the metopes of Doric entablatures, but also in Ionic and Corinthian friezes, sometimes connected by floral or drapery swags. The architectural term for these skulls is bucranium (pl. bucrania or bucranes), a word derived from the Latin bos, meaning ox or cow, and cranium, the Medieval Latin term for a skull. The skulls allude to the ancient Greek and Roman ceremonies of sacrifice.

With plano-convex body and flat base, gently tapering neck and everted rolled rim. 27.1 grams, 13 cm



From an important London collection of glass, 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.