Roman Openwork Silver Military Baldric Phalera

3RD CENTURY A.D.

3 3/8 in. (40 grams, 86 mm).

With concentric lines of openwork ornament in lanceolate shapes, ending with crescent decorations.

Provenance

Acquired from Gallery Gryphos, Munich, 1997.
European private collection.

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.11998-211928.

Literature

Cf. Bishop, M.C. & Coulston, J.N.C., Roman Military Equipment from the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome, Oxford, 2006, pls.3b and 7a, for similar.

Footnotes

In the 3rd century A.D. Roman army, the old ring suspension system of the sword, of Celtic and Iberian origin, was abandoned. The sword was now mainly carried suspended from a broad baldric on the soldier’s left side. The high quality of the openwork decoration of our phalera and the precious silver of which it is made imply that it may have once belonged to a commissioned officer.

CONDITION

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LOT 0170