LOT 0889

Roman Lead Head of a Woman

3RD-4TH CENTURY A.D.

2 1/8 in. (31.4 grams total, 55 mm including stand).

Modelled in the round as a facing female, semi-naturalistic facial detailing and dressed hair; mounted on a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]

with Arte Classica, Lugano, prior 2000.

Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00043014.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Cf. Cool, H.E.M., 'Roman Metal Hair Pins from Southern Britain' in Archaeological Journal, 1990, pp.148-182, fig.10, nos.7, 11, for similar.

Some Roman metal hair pins had human figures as finials (Cool, sub-group A, p.168). Bone pin finials carved as female busts were relatively common in Britannia (see for example finds from Londinium or Rutupiae). Metal pins with human figures were rare, though where they occur they tended to be made in the late Roman period, such a similar example recovered in the Vermand area. The treatment of figures varied greatly, including 'Celtic' looking faces and 'Venus' types. This great diversity of treatment clearly suggests that these pins were the occasional products of a wide variety of workshops.