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LOT 0744
Roman Decorated and Inscribed Animal Hilt
3RD-4TH CENTURY A.D.
4 3/8 in. (87 grams, 11 cm).
Openwork rectangular bifacial dagger- or knife-hilt with lobe pommel and blade-socket; Side A: two rectangular openwork panels, above an inverted openwork inscription 'VTERE FELIX' and below two opposed running hounds; Side B: two opposed running hounds above inverted inscription: 'CONSTANTI' (use [this] with good fortune for Constantine).
ProvenancePrivate collection 1990s.
Ex London, UK, gallery.
See Bishop, M.C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman Military Equipment From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome, London, 1993, p.219, for discussion.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Terracotta Plate
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Circular dish or plate with carinated foot and in-turned rim. 860 grams, 26 cm wide
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Roman Bronze Military Belt Mount Group
Circa 2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Group of three rectangular mounts each with a beaded border and low-relief motif. 12.2 grams total, 31-34 mm
Property of the vendor's grandfather, thence by family descent, circa 1985. From the private collection of a New York, USA gentleman. -
Roman Marble Head of a Young Man
2nd-3rd century A.D.Estimate: £4,000 - 6,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £2,000
Worked in high-relief with hairstyle typical of the transitional period from the Consulate to the Empire; oval face with a prominent forehead, oval eyelids and clearly defined lines around the eyes; hair arranged in vertical lines combed back from the forehead; pronounced lips, typical rendering of the wide auricles; the lower part of the tunic visible with a well defined round edge around the neck; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 5.94 kg total, 22.5 cm high including stand
Acquired from Gallery Gryphos, Munich, 1992. European private collection. Accompanied by 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 search certificate number no.11996-211878.
The head was probably pertinent to a series of funerary family portraits. It has realistic modelling of male features, which speaks of a portrait in reduced dimensions or a reference to a well-known person in the environment where it was exhibited. The portrait is worked only on the front, leaving the back, as well as the lower part of the sculpture, roughly treated.
