Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 0757
Roman Mosaic Stone Tesserae Group
1ST-4TH CENTURY A.D.
1/4 - 1/2 in. (350 grams total, 7-14 mm).
A mixed group of two hundred and fifty single tesserae of various colours and sizes, mostly cuboid. [250, No Reserve]
Provenance
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.
Literature
For similar tesserae see Gabucci, A., Pejrani Baricco, L., Ratto, S., Per il Museo di Ivrea, La sezione archeologica del Museo Civico P.A. Garda, Sesto Fiorentino, 2014, cover, mosaic from a Domus of Eporedia.
Footnotes
Roman mosaics were made from small cubes of natural stone and terracotta possibly cut from tile or brick. Each of these small cubes was called a tessera (plural tesserae) from the Latin word for dice.
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine 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:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
RELATED LOTS
-
Roman Magical Amulet in the name of Serapion
Levantine Region, circa 2nd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
An early Christian columnar amulet pierced lengthwise for suspension, with magical inscription in Greek to each of the four faces: 'TO ΔЄ Β Є Ξ Ι ധ / Τ Ο ΚΥ ΡM(?) Ο Κധ ΚЄ / CΑ ΒΑ ധ ΚЄ ЄΦ Ι ΜΗ(ligate) IΑ C / CЄ ΡΑ ΠΙ ധ Ν Ο C'. 5.14 grams, 30 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
Roman Bronze Ring with Cupid Gemstone
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Slender hoop with a discoid bezel set with a carnelian intaglio bearing an image of a winged cupid holding a bow. 1.02 grams, 19.84 mm overall, 15.55 mm internal diameter (approximate size British J, USA 4 3/4, Europe 8.69, Japan 8)
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Marble Head of a Woman
3rd-4th century A.D.Estimate: £6,000 - 8,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £3,000
Carved in three-quarter view, with hair dressed in a chignon with frontal band and wavy segments; soft facial features with much detailing remaining to the proper right eye and mouth; likely a frieze fragment; mounted on an old collector's display stand with typed label 'Marble, woman's head / Egypt / C.25-100 A.D. / Cat.No. 6169'. 8.45 kg, 39 cm high
Acquired in trade from the San Franciscanum Museum, Israel, prior to 1980. with Archaeologia, pre 1983, Switzerland and Canada. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12964-242755.
The arrangement of the hair is characteristic of female portraits dating between the late Severan and Tetrarchic periods. The head, due to the treatment of the hair, finds comparisons with a female portrait in the Museo Nazionale Romano, depicting an elderly woman of the Antonine era, and with another female portrait in the same museum, dated to the third decade of the 3rd century A.D., reworked in the Tetrarchic period, and which showed a Severan so-called Nest Frisur hairstyle. The sculpture in question can therefore be dated between the full 3rd century A.D. and the first decades of the 4th century A.D. based on the hairstyle, the shape of eyes and eyebrows.
