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LOT 0900
Roman Gilt Bronze Phalera with Theseus and the Minotaur
2ND CENTURY B.C.- 2ND CENTURY A.D.
2 in. (32 grams, 49 mm).
Domed roundel with high-relief design of combat between a bearded hero and a monster, wreath and rosettes to the rim.
ProvenanceFound near Sedgeford, Norfolk, UK, in the 1980s.
Acquired in the late 1990s.
Property of a Norfolk, UK, collector.
Cf. for surviving examples of this type of medallions or phalerae, often with an animal, compare various examples in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv. nos. 31630 and Fr. 1552 g 6-8; Babelon, E., and Blanchet, J.-A., Catalogue des bronzes antiques de la Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris, 1895, nos.12-13, 55, 65-66, 110, 132, 178, 193, 214, 264, 316-17, 359-60, 369, and 445; nos. 25, 28, 120, 143-44, 253, 301, 400, 434, 491, 622, 712, 715, 827, 844, and 1022.
FootnotesAccording to the legend, Theseus, prince of Athens, went to the island of Crete to kill a monster who was the son of queen Pasiphae and a wild bull, although officially he was the son of Minos and Pasiphae. Theseus chased him into the labyrinth, killed him and found his way out with the help of the comb of Ariadne, daughter of King Minos. The myth has its representation in the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic period, and was widely depicted in the Graeco-Roman world. The present repoussé appliqué was probably used as a furniture or horse harness ornament.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0900
Roman Gilt Bronze Phalera with Theseus and the Minotaur
Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
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1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Long haired, human face with detailed scaly fish body, glass insert preserved in the eye, in the act of blowing to a seashell. 31.6 grams, 70 mm
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