Roman Decorated Gold Dress Pin

A reused rectangular wax tablet with a shallow recessed panel to one face and thirteen lines of Roman cursive script; the text contains the end of testamentary instructions followed by the obligatory mancipatory formula which includes the ritual purchase of the entire property of the deceased (familia testamenti faciundi erga emit), with the "Libripens" (balance holder) being Bonatianus, and the first of the witnesses was Iulius Lovianus; in the last lines the testator's handwritten signature, after he had dictated his will to a friend; on the outer face two sulci, which were filled with wax into which the signet rings of the witnesses could be impressed, with traces of the signatures of witnesses; four small holes for attachment. 50 grams, 17.7 x 16.6 cm



Acquired by Albert Sfez in the early 1950s. Formerly the property of Monsieur Alain Sfez, a Belgium collector; acquired by gift from his father Albert Sfez, in 1965. Acquired by a London dealer in 1973. From an important London collection since 1975; thence by descent. Accompanied by a copy of a four page illustrated academic report by Professor Dr. phil. Peter Rothenhöfer. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12568-218137. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The contract follows standard Roman legal formulae.

Blue glass disc with white glass past overlay imitating onyx, showing the nurturing of baby Dionysos, raised by nymphs on Mount Nysa: the infant god standing on the lap of a nymph, another standing right, Silenus standing left and leaning in on the scene, a tree in the background; set into a later gold setting with applied wire scrolls and tendrils on the sides with an applied filigree band below, wide loop above fronted by an applied decorative plaque set with a garnet cabochon. 21.36 grams, 48 mm



Private collection of a London gentleman, acquired between 1965-2020. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Ittai Gradel. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12680-235465. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Dr Ittai Gradel writes: 'Cameos with Dionysiac motifs were especially popular in the mid- to later first century BC, and the prolific workshop of the gem carver Sostratos specialized in such motifs (see I. Gradel, ‘A tale of two fragments: a Sostratos cameo reconstructed’, The Burlington Magazine 162 (March 2020), 181-87). The original, lost stone cameo, from which this glass version was cast, belongs in this period and ambience. The glass cast was presumably contemporary with the original cameo, possibly slightly later, but the glass is in any case clearly ancient (corrosion, iridescence).'

Comprising plano-convex lentoid beads alternating with gold cells with cabochon garnet inserts; hook-and-eye closure. 23.73 grams, 52 cm



Acquired from Notaras Coins & Antiquities, Suffolk, UK, before 2000. Property of a Bedfordshire, UK, private collector. Accompanied by an illustrated collector's identification tag. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12486 -229850. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.