Roman Child's Gold Funerary Ring

The discoid body formed as an openwork monogram ROMA in Latin letters, the M and A ligated, the O formed by the brooch frame itself; ROMA also a palindrome for AMOR. 12.5 grams, 34 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

When viewed from the default side, RMA + the circle of the brooch form a monogram for ‘Roma’. Roma refers to both the city and its divine personification, the Dea Roma. When RMA is read from right to left (or the brooch is viewed from the opposite side), the letters form a monogram for ‘AMOR’, the Latin name for Cupid, the god of love. The phrase pertains to Roma-Amor, a widely recognised palindrome espousing Roman wordplay in the ancient times.

Cuboid 'die' drilled through the centre, each of the four faces with a different animal: a hare, an eagle facing back, a dove, and a dolphin(?), probably used in a game of dice. 1.6 grams, 6 mm



Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, collector. From his private collection since the 1970s; thence by descent circa 2000. Ex private collection of a Bedfordshire gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Including a rock crystal insert with intaglio hoplite and two other intaglio warriors, a later cameo with female bust. 2.16 grams total, 11-15 mm



Norfolk family collection, 1940s-1960s; thence by descent. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.