Roman Dagger with Bronze Boar-Head Handle

Mask of Silenus modelled in the half-round with curly hair and luxuriant beard; hollow to the reverse. 31.5 grams, 36 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.

With an elongated body and a long nozzle with a rounded tip; raised rim enclosing the upper face with an ivy lef-shaped filling hole; wide handle terminating to a female tragic mask with a palmette below the chin, the hair dressed in ringlets with two rows of curls to the brow, eyes inlaid with silver; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 1.97 kg, 28 cm wide (4.31 kg total, 27.5 cm high including stand)



Old private British collection, pre-1965. Property of a gentleman; acquired in the UK before 2000. Accompanied by a copy of an old black and white photograph and an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12033-215424.

The lamp is of Loeschke type XX (Walters type 6), with many of these lamps made in Italy, but some are also found in the East. The tragic mask appears frequently on lamp handles, probably as an apotropaic subject. The mask was an inseparable element of unity with the past and religious context.

Including a dress pin and two probes, one with a pierced end for suspension. 10.2 grams total, 9.6-15.5 cm



Found City of London, UK. Acquired from mudlark Steve Brooker in the early 2000s. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK, formed since 1985.