Roman Glass Bead Collection

A restrung group of mainly glass and faience beads of various types, sizes and dates, including tubular, facetted, spherical, coin, biconical and other types, in various shades of green. 10.5 grams, 70.5 cm long



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.

A fragment of redware ceramic from a moulded vessel, low-relief design depicting the giant Geryon as a helmetted Roman Miles advancing, with gladius held ready in both his left hands and a studded round shield; modern mounting loop to the reverse. 36 grams, 78 mm



Acquired 1960s-1990s. From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.

The image is a representation of the giant Geryon, a monster killed by Herakles usually represented with three bodies and three heads, or three heads and one body, or three bodies and one head. In the Roman iconography (but already visible in Greek iconography) he is often represented as an armoured warrior. The original pottery to which the fragment belonged was probably originally decorated with the labours of Hercules.

A rectangular slate mount showing the head of a tragic mask with angular eyes, straight nose and a clownish, down-turned mouth. 3 grams, 16.2 mm

Very fine condition.

Acquired from Galerie Jean Phillipe Mariaud de Serres, 1990-2000. Property of a French collector.

Small appliqués like this one were common in Roman furniture. In the Graeco-Roman world, comic and tragic masks played an important role in Greek drama, commonly performed in the Roman Empire. The actors had the ability to easily play more than one character in succession with a simple change of masks, and the characters of the masks became popular objects in the material culture.