Roman Decorated Bracelet

A green glass jug with squat body domed shoulder, tubular neck and rolled rim, applied ribbed handle and trail to neck base; iridescent surfaces; rim chipped. 279 grams, 15.2 cm high



Acquired early 1990s. Ex private American collection; thence by descent. Private collection since 1998.

A clay lamp with rounded lug handle, shoulder with foliage in relief on each side, separated from the slightly concave discus by a ridge, which continues toward the round-tipped nozzle forming a wide channel between the discus and the wick hole; two equal-sized filling-holes at upper and lower part of the discus decorated with a lion running left, raised slightly convex base-ring with an additional inner ring. 163 grams, 13.5 cm



Acquired from a central London Antiquities Dealers Association (ADA) member's gallery in 1990. From the estate of a Lancashire gentleman.

The present lamps seems to be molded in Terra Sigillata Africana (TSA) = African Red Slip (ARS) and can be related to Atlante types VI. The passage from lamps of Loeschcke type VIII in TSA with a heart-shaped nozzle ( = Atlante form I) to the channelled so-called Christian lamps ( = Atlante forms VIII and X, or Hayes types I and II) was progressively achieved by three factors: the transformation of the initially circular discus into an oval shape, the elongation of the nozzle, and the increased width and length of the channel.

A pair of bone dice with punched ring-and-dot numbering, each composed: 1:6; 2:5; 3:4. 3.4 grams total, 10 mm each

Fine condition.

German art market, 1990s. Mr A.H., a North American collector living in the UK.