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_900x900.jpg "Roman Enamelled Bronze Brooch")
_200x200.jpg "Roman Enamelled Bronze Brooch")
.jpg "Roman Enamelled Bronze Brooch")
LOT 0192
Roman Enamelled Bronze Brooch
1ST-3RD CENTURY A.D.
2 1/4 in. (61 grams total, 56 mm including stand).
With raised central boss and peripheral discs with red enamel alternating with openwork loops; the body with a double band of blue, white and red enamelling, separated by ropework bands; remains of pin hinge and catchplate to the reverse; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a private New Jersey collection, 1960-1985.
with Artemis Gallery, Colorado, USA, 8 March 2016, no.45.
Private American collection, New York, USA.
Cf. Hattatt, R., Ancient and Romano-British Brooches, Sherborne, 1982, p.141 nos.126,129; Melchart, W., Antike Kostbarkeiten aus Osterreichischem privatbesitz, Wien, 1997, fig.43, for the type.
FootnotesA similar brooch is preserved in the Colchester Museum, and similarly decorated brooch discs are visible in the British Museum and have been found in Chesterholm, Vindolanda and Chepstow. It is a Roman provincial type used by military personnel and their families.
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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Roman Bronze and Bone Knuckle-Bones Gaming Piece Group
Circa 1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £598
Group comprising: two bone astragali smoothed for use as gaming pieces; bronze model of the same. 80 grams total, 31-35 mm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. -
Roman Mosaic Tesserae Group
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
A mixed group of two hundred and fifty single stone tesserae of various colours and sizes. 392 grams total, 8-14 mm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. -
Roman Bronze Chariot Fitting of a Celtic Prisoner
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,300
Bust and torso of an indigenous nobleman modelled in the round; with rounded facial features, the shoulder-length hair dressed in hanks and cut into tiers, centre-parted and framing the face; the eyes exaggerated, probably originally emphasised with sheet-silver detailing; the broad chest smooth with ring-and-dot nipples; a thick collar or torc sitting high on the collar-bone, with braided detailing and finished with a D-shaped pendant; each upper-arm supported by a barley-twist column with cup finial and stylised flames above; the centre supported by a rectangular block with incised herringbone linear pattern interspersed with pointillé pellets; the base broad and gently curved away from the figure, with a lattice of bilinear panels bearing groups of three ring-and-dot motifs, D-shaped loop to the forward edge flanked by smaller lobes; the reverse plain, the head hollow with remains of a thick loop at the lower edge of the hair; significant iron deposits to surface from its deposition environment; of provincial Roman workmanship. 461 grams, 13 cm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
Its construction with a central block flanked by two short pillars (i.e. leaving two slots) suggests that the piece may have been intended as a rein-guide for a chariot, whereby the leather or fabric straps would pass through the two apertures and, by their separation, be prevented from tangling. Bronze figural busts are known from Gallo-Roman contexts: they are usually female and interpreted as tutelae or protective tribal spirits (Boucher & Tassinari, 1976, items 62-4). The present example is evidently designed to impress the viewer with its portrayal of the 'noble barbarian' as a suitable conveyor of martial splendour (Boucher & Tassinari, 1976, item 321). The impressive figure recalls the famed statue 'The Dying Gaul' in the Capitoline Museum, Rome, showing a 'barbarian' warrior with a neck torc, thick hair and moustache, discarded weapons and shield carved on the ground and a carnyx trumpet between his legs. The statue is a copy of a Hellenistic original celebrating a Greek victory over the Galatians.
