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LOT 0165
Roman Gold and Garnet Gemstone Ring with Bird
1ST-3RD CENTURY A.D.
7/8 in. (3.52 grams, 22.74 mm overall, 17.38 mm internal diameter (approximate size British K 1/2, USA 5 1/2, Europe 10.58, Japan 10)).
Hollow-formed with inset cloison, incuse profile bird motif.
ProvenancePrivate collection, acquired on the German art market in 1993; thence by descent.
LiteratureCf. Ruseva-Slokoska, L., Roman Jewellery, Sofia, 1991, item 193, for type.
FootnotesThe ring belongs to the type I, variant 3, of Roman gold rings according to Ruseva-Slokoska’s classification. These rings had massive ellipsoid hoops with bands semi-circular to the outside, wider and thicker towards the shoulders.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0165
Roman Gold and Garnet Gemstone Ring with Bird
Estimate £1,500 - 2,000€1,740 - 2,320 (for guidance only)$2,030 - 2,700 (for guidance only)
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Roman Silver Child's Ring with Agate
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Slender hoop with a round bezel set with a conical agate, applied pellets flanking the bezel. 1.11 grams, 19.29 mm overall, 13.25 mm internal diameter (approximate size British D, USA 1 3/4, Europe 1.15, Japan 1)
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Marble Head of a Veiled Goddess
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,680
With a palla drawn up over her hair, stepped at the rear to indicate a chignon; soft, youthful facial features with fleshy cheeks and a rounded jawline; mounted on a custom-made stand. 1.47 kg total, 18.5 cm including stand
with Gorny & Mosch, Munich, 21 June 2005, no.344. Private collection, Europe. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Gorny & Mosch catalogue pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13198-250132.
The head comes from a statue that most likely represented a matronly deity, Demeter or Hestia/Vesta, the goddess protector of the home hearth. The latter seems the most likely, as she was usually depicted (as in the Hestia Iustiniani, a prototype often replicated in the Roman era) with a covered head (velato capite), a symbol of modesty and marital virtue for the Roman matron. -
Roman Carnelian Gemstone with the Goddess Spes
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Standing and facing left with her right hand raised an holding a budding flower; inscription in Greek 'KAΛ(OΣ)' (= beautiful) on the left. 0.74 grams, 13 mm
Ex R. Sebastia Coch (1908-1969) collection, Barcelona; thence by descent. English art market, 2018. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00143341.
Spes (Elpis in Greek) was honoured as a goddess since ancient times, but especially during the Empire the cult of the goddess took on a political value, symbolically representing the confident expectation of a happy imperial succession. From Claudius who had her depicted on coins on the occasion of the birth of his son Britannicus, Spes was then defined in epigraphs with the epithet of Augusta, Augusti, Augustorum and also publica or p(opuli)R(omani), to which were added under the Severi the attributes of perpetua(eternal) and firma(firm).