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_900x900.jpg "Roman Lead Coffin Fragment with Sphinx, Medusa and Dolphins")
_200x200.jpg "Roman Lead Coffin Fragment with Sphinx, Medusa and Dolphins")
.jpg "Roman Lead Coffin Fragment with Sphinx, Medusa and Dolphins")
LOT 0148
Roman Lead Coffin Fragment with Sphinx, Medusa and Dolphins
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D
40 in. (20.1 kg, 101.5 cm).
Decorated with a high-relief pattern comprising sphinxes surrounded by dolphins and masks of Medusa surrounded by laurel leaves all between Corinthian columns; ropework and floral border strips with laurel leaves above; lip below the upper edge.
ProvenanceAcquired 1970s-early 1990s.
Property of a North American collector.
London collection, 2016.
See Payne, G., Roman Leaden Coffin discovered at Plumstead in Archaeologia Cantiana, Vol.17, 1887, fig.10, for the presence of lead sarcophagi in Roman Britain; for a similar specimen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession no.31.116a-i; Penn Museum, coffin panel B10280, from Lebanon (Tyre).
FootnotesThis item belongs to types widespread in the Eastern Mediterranean. The panel is decorated with a columned structure, and within each section are symbols of the outer-world, including gorgons, sphinx and dolphins. The sphinx, having a human head and breasts, legs and paws of a lion, and wings of a bird, was generally associated with protecting imperial tombs and temples. The roundels featuring the head of Medusa, known for her potent gazes that could turn one to stone, was favoured on sarcophagi and architectural ornaments because it was believed that her image would protect those within. The dolphin was considered to ferry the souls of the dead to the afterlife.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0148
Roman Lead Coffin Fragment with Sphinx, Medusa and Dolphins
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
-
Roman Silver Trumpet Whorl Brooch
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
Fine openwork casting of La Tène trumpets and scrolls with catch to the reverse. 10.5 grams, 38 mm
Ex London collection, 1990s. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of an East London gentleman. -
Roman Bronze Boar Statuette
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Modelled in the round figure of a barrow (young boar) with serrated line of bristles along the dorsal ridge. 18.5 grams, 51 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. -
Roman Bronze Figurine of Venus
Circa 50 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,980
The figure standing with her head turned slightly to the right, elegant hair falling to the shoulders in two long tresses; chiton draped around the left shoulder and sagging to expose the right breast; left hand holding a fold of the robe at her thigh, right hand slightly extended holding an apple; toes exposed beneath the fringe of her robe; mounted on a custom-made stand. 1.17 kg total, 27.3 cm high including stand
European private collection, acquired 1980s, or before. Subsequently British private collection, acquired late 1990s from the previous. Acquired directly from the above by the current owner. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12052-210844.
