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LOT 0605
Roman Decorated Glass Bowl
3RD-5TH CENTURY A.D.
5 5/8 in. (131 grams, 14.3 cm wide).
A transparent glass bowl with gently tapering sidewalls and iridescent surfaces; base displaying a geometric motif with cut or engraved shallow dimples at centre surrounded by curved, radiating lines, circular dimples around the perimeter, with possible shallow ovals to the exterior wall.
ProvenanceAcquired in the 1980s-1990s.
Previously with Mansour Gallery, London W1.
Property of a North West London gentleman.
Cf. Whitehouse, D., Roman Glass in The Corning Museum Of Glass, Volume One, New York, 1997, pp.261-265, esp. item 450.
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Roman Unfinished Brooch Casting
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
An unfinished copper-alloy brooch casting of simple fibula form, with visible seams. 6.1 grams, 44 mm
Acquired in the 1970s. Important European collection. -
'The Uttoxeter' Roman Octagonal Rolling Dice
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
An octagonal bronze 'Stabwuerfel' rolling dice with rounded terminals, drilled dot numbering rotating the rod clockwise: 1; 4-4; 3; 5; 2; 7; 4; 6; an additional single dimple to the end face of one terminal; all numbers are drilled at the centre of the rod with the exception of the number 8, which is split into two groups of 4, located at either end. 58 grams, 54 mm
Found whilst searching with a metal detector rear North Uttoxeter, East Staffordshire, UK, on Saturday 11th March 2017, by Martin Colclough. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no. LANCUM-E6101C where it states: 'Stabwuerfel (germ. rod dice) are very rare in this country and this is the first one recorded on this database...This die will be marked a Find of Note for the area...and has been designated: Potential for inclusion in Britannia.'
The PAS report describes this find of note as being 'in extremely good condition'. The dots may once have had an enamel fill. -
Roman Silver-Gilt Cicada Brooch
4th-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £494
A silver-gilt brooch in form of cicada with hollow-formed D-section head and neck, flat triangular wings; the head with bulbous eyes above a waisted neck; granule detailing to the head; pin-lug and catch-wire to the reverse. 3.82 grams, 23 mm
Acquire in the 1990s. Ex Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.
This type of brooch was popular among the Hunnic tribes, as well as in Roman Pannonia and Illyricum before the arrival of the Huns. Early Hunnic designs from Pannonia may have borrowed from late Roman types. With the arrival of new populations due to migration from the east, a new material culture developed, described as the Danubian or Ponto-Danubian style, as many of its features appear in the Pontic region as well. Although the exact meaning of the cicada brooch is not known to us, it is possible that it retained its ancient symbolism of rebirth or regeneration of the soul.