Roman Glass Bowl with Iridescence

Fragment of a terracotta votive statuette representing a ram, detail to the horns, ears and fleece; set with a suspension ring on the reverse. 50 grams, 77 mm wide



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

Many figurines of this type have been found in the Hellenised Roman provinces of the east and one identical in the Athenian Agora. They are all rendered with incisions that are characteristic of the technique of the late fourth century. Many similar examples were found in the Kerameikos and some are in the National Museum of Archaeology, Athens. A similar technique is observable in the handles representing animal heads which occur on red pottery ornamented with white paint.

Comprising a substantial ring with incised borders surrounding three radiating hexagonal plates supporting a central pierced triangular panel; each with a raised dome and longitudinal recess; rectangular suspension slot above. 85 grams, 83 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.

Comprising one round-section in deep blue, one similar in deep red, and a D-section in pale blue/turquoise. 14.3 grams total, 42-55 mm



Formerly with a Bournemouth gentleman. Ex Essex collection. Property of a Scottish collector, acquired in 2013.

Bangles did not occur in a vacuum after the Roman invasion but were an integral part of globalising networks of cross-Channel trade and connections with the European mainland in the early first century A.D. According to J. Price bangles were first developed in southern Britain in the late Claudio-Neronian period (A.D. 43–65/70) and that in subsequent periods the craft of bangle-making quickly spread further north with the advance of the Roman army.