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LOT 0646
Roman Mars Gemstone in Gold Ring
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D. AND LATER
7/8 in. (8.93 grams, 21.88 mm overall, 17.70 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N, USA 6 1/2, Europe 13.72, Japan 13)).
An ellipsoid carnelian gemstone with intaglio figure of Mars wearing a helmet and bearing a cornucopia in one hand and a miniature figure of Victory in the other; set in a later gold ring.
ProvenanceEx Marianne Maspero, 1980.
with Pierre Berge & Associes, Paris, France, 16 May 2018, lot 230.
English private collection.
Mars was the ancient Roman god of war and agriculture; the majority of his festivals were held in March, when the season for military campaigning commenced, whilst the season for farming ended. Mars symbolised military power as a method for securing peace and stability and was believed a protective father of the Roman people. In Roman mythology, Mars raped Silvia, thus fathering Romulus and Remus, the famous twins suckled by the She-wolf and founders of the city of Rome. The animals most closely associated with Mars are the woodpecker, wolf and bear.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Alabaster Bowl
1st-3rd century A.D.Estimate: £500 - 700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
A polished alabaster bowl with convex sidewall and copper-alloy facing to the foot; chipped. 263 grams, 98 mm
Acquired early 1990s. Ex private American collection; thence by descent. Private collection since 1998. -
Roman Artefact Group
Circa 1st-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
A trio of artefacts comprising: a Roman copper-alloy coin, likely a sestertius, with worn designs to obverse and reverse, the reverse likely portraying the goddess Minerva leaning on a shield and wearing a helmet; a stone loom weight of conoid form, dated c.100 A.D. and discovered in Egypt; a Roman ceramic oil lamp dated c.500 A.D., piriform in plan with raised borders to the central opening and nozzle, decorative ribbing to the shoulder, conical handle and basal ring. 150 grams total, 33-92 mm
From an old UK collection. From the private collection of Alf Baxendale (1941-2016) part 2, keen Egyptologist, member of the Egyptology Society, trustee of the Amarna Trust; thence by descent. Accompanied by two identification display cards. Accompanied by a copy of his obituary published in Horizon, The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust newsletter, Issue 18, 2017, p.21, by Barry John Kemp, CBE, FBA, Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge and directing excavations at Amarna in Egypt. -
Roman Gemstone with Zeus Serapis and Isis
2nd-3rd century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £442
A gem with a representation of Zeus Serapis enthroned, modius on his head, sceptre and eagle by his side, Isis Gubernatrix to his right and Isis sail-bearer to his left, all three figures riding a galley or cargo ship. 0.28 grams, 10 mm
Acquired before 1988. Ex family collection, by descent, Geneva.
This triad formed by Serapis and the two aspects of Isis (Gubernatrix and sail-bearer) aboard a ship, appears in several examples of Alexandrian coinage and gemstones. This imagery is linked to the image of Isis, goddess of the sea, and Serapis, god of vegetation and protector of the sailors.
