Roman Glass Bead Necklace

Ellipsoid bezel with incuse image of Minerva standing helmetted holding spear and shield; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 3.71 grams, 22.95 mm overall, 19.56 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P 1/2, USA 7 3/4, Europe 16.86, Japan 16)



Acquired on the London art market in the late 1980s-1990s. From the family collection of an East London, UK, gentleman.

Piriform two-part container with three holes to the underside, hinge to the broad end, obverse with ropework border and stylised phallus in high-relief. 9.97 grams, 38 mm



Private collection of Mr S.A., Switzerland, 1990s, thence by descent.

Polished to an oval shape, engraved with eight theatre masks in two rows; one row with three tragic masks in profile, one depicting a satyr, and a tragic mask of an old man shown frontally; the opposing row with a tragic mask of an old man in profile, a Bacchus mask, a mask of a bearded man wearing a cap shown in three-quarter view, and a mask of a young hero facing the centre. 2.51 grams, 22.02 mm



From the collection of a late London, UK, gentleman, 1980s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12033-214124.

The masks represented seem to be relevant to the typologies of the 'new comedy', an image that appears on cameos and gems since the Augustan era.