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LOT 0733
Roman Deep Blue Glass Bead Necklace String
1ST-4TH CENTURY A.D. AND LATER
17 1/8 in. (11.7 grams, 43.5 cm).
Restrung group of tubular, oblate and other types with tabular pendant centrepiece; including some 'Indo-Pacific' beads. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceLondon, UK, collection, 2000s.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Large Roman Bronze Vessel Handle with Conjoined Dolphins
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £27
Comprising a crescentic band with ribbed detailing of two opposed dolphins, each with a pierced P-shaped lug to the lower end; 55 grams, 11.3 cm
Found Gloucestershire, UK. -
Late Roman Imperial Porphyry Fragment
4th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
Formed as a parallelepiped with round corner having a possibly later polished side and the other three sides straight and round, with signs of carving; probably from an Imperial sarcophagus or monument; mounted on a custom-made stand. 9.85 kg total, 36.5 cm including stand
Acquired from the private collection of a Somerset gentleman who was related to Sir Arthur Evans. From the private collection of a UK gentleman since before 2005.
For the Romans, porphyry was the Imperial marble par excellence, and from Constantine the Great until the end of the 5th century, but probably also later, it was used to create sarcophagi for the emperors and members of the Imperial families. This particular stone was connected with the Imperial family because of its red colour, recalling the violet and red shades of the purple (porphyra), the precious colour assigned only to emperors and their relatives. In Constantinople, a room of the Imperial palace was called Porphýra, located on one of the palace terraces overlooking the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus. It was perfectly square in shape with a pyramidal ceiling and was entirely covered in purple porphyry speckled with white dots: this was the room where the empresses gave birth to the heir of the Roman Empire, called Porphyrogénnētos, meaning ‘born in the purple room’. Porphyry was widely used for building churches in the Christian Empire, and Justinian exhausted the supplies from Egypt by building the Great Church of Hagia Sophia, where still today a great amount of this material can be seen. The impressive Imperial sarcophagi were kept in the Church of the Holy Apostles, as well as the great porphyry sarcophagus of Constantine the Great, of which only a small fragment survives today in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul. -
Roman or Gandharan Silver Bowl
Circa late 1st century B.C.-early 1st century A.D.Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £750
Squat in profile with gently domed base, curved sidewall with carination below the rim. 233 grams, 18.1 cm
Acquired from a private UK collection prior to 1979. Ex Julian Sherrier collection, a leading figure in Gandharan art. with Christie's, New York, sale 2337, 14th September 2010, no.51 (part). Accompanied by the original Christie's bar code label.
