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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
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Private collection of Mr S.A., Switzerland, 1994, thence by descent. -
Roman Bronze Baubo Statuette
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
Standing with hands at her sides, wearing a conical cap, raising her dress to her mouth to reveal her genitals; palmette to the reverse. 26 grams, 48 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 Disc Mirror
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
With one flat surface, reverse with thick flared rim, incised concentric rings, carinated profile. 514 grams, 18.5 cm
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.
