Roman Glass Bead Necklace String

An amuletic pendant with rectangular plaque and flat-section suspension coil; pointillé detailing to the surface, two reserved facing figures in ankle-length robes, parcel-gilt. 2.04 grams, 36 mm



From the collection of a London antiquarian, formed since the 1980s.

Modelled nude, standing on an ellipsoid base with mantle to the left shoulder and caduceus supported by the left arm, item (perhaps a marsupium) in the right hand, winged petasos to the head with bird perched above the left ear; mounted on a custom-made stand. 38.5 grams total, 82 mm including base



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.

The statuette belongs to Gallo-Roman glyptic tradition, whose geometric treatment of the drapery recalls that of a statuette in the Avignon museum and the statue of the seated god of Sommerécourt (Haute-Marne) of Celtic tradition. The winged petasos, as in many other statuettes, seems to be made of tortoise shell.

Hollow-formed sheet gold penannular form with ribbed finial, applied filigree and granule ornament. 11.91 grams, 52 mm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.