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LOT 0601
Roman Green Glass Bowl
150-50 B.C.
5 in. (280 grams, 12.8 cm wide).
Hemispherical body with a wheel-cut decoration on the inside rim.
ProvenanceFrom an important London, UK, collection 1980-2020.
LiteratureCf. Antonaras, A., Ancient Glass in the J.Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 2025, p.84, no.61, for the type of grooved bowl.
FootnotesSuch bowls were mainly produced in the Eastern Mediterranean and diffused in Rome since the 2nd century B.C., when the sea was becoming a Mare Nostrum for the Res Publica. They were characterised by a hemispherical body with a round and convex bottom, but especially by concentric circular grooves.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Stork Emerging from a Seashell in Gold Ring
1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,510
The oval intaglio engraved with a whimsical image of a stork emerging from the mouth of a large seashell, its neck arched forward to seize a small mouse by the tail; set in a finely made 19th-century ring with openwork shoulders; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 4.25 grams, 24.31 mm overall, 19.30 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T, USA 9 1/2, Europe 21.26, Japan 20)
Acquired on the European art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13365-257944.
The stork, a bird symbolic in antiquity of vigilance, filial piety, and longevity, here appears in an imaginative fusion with a marine shell—an element often associated with Venus and the sea. The capture of the mouse adds an element of humour and narrative intrigue, perhaps evoking themes of cunning, the triumph of wit, or the unexpected in nature. Such unusual compositions are occasionally found in Roman glyptics of the late Republican period, appealing both for their novelty and symbolic richness. -
Roman to Migration Period Silver Pendant Group
1st-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Including a vineleaf with knop finial, recurved helmet-handle type and others. 7.78 grams total, 22-32 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Late Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Stipple Decoration
5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Comprising a rounded nozzle with a low channel and a recessed discus with a filler hole, the body decorated with three rows of raised pellets, with a loop handle to the rear and a low basal ring. 137 grams, 12.6 cm
By descent to the son of a late Hertfordshire gentleman collector, whose collection was formed from the 1960s.
