Roman Gold Ring with Sardonyx Gemstone

With narrow base, bulbous body, broad neck, carinated collar to the rim. 2.9 kg, 33.5 cm high



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.

Of pendant type with ribbed loop, flat-section neck with chamfered sides, piriform plate extending to split finial; central vertical panel of engraved Late Roman military style zig-zag ornament. 3.23 grams, 49 mm



Acquired late 1980s-early 1990s. Ex private collection, Nottinghamshire, UK. Acquired on the UK art market in 2012. Property of a Kent lady collector.

With single-edged blade gently curving towards the tip; applied bone handle with diagonally striated banding. 38.1 grams, 17.5 cm



Found near Wetwang, East Yorkshire, UK. Acquired from the finder in 2007. Property of a Nottinghamshire gentleman.

Tools which cannot be assigned to one of the more specific categories, such as agricultural or military equipment especially knife blades, tool handles, and hones. Three methods of attaching a handle to the tang of a knife or tool are distinguishable in the Roman culter. Rivetting was used on two-piece handles (like in our specimen). Driving the tang into the marrow-cavity of the bone, which was usually packed with wood-shavings, so that the irregularities of cancellous tissue and the wood-shavings prevented the tang from twisting or slipping out (often a collar was also used with this method). Lastly, the tang could be fixed to the handle by means of an iron clip.