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LOT 0170
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.
ProvenanceAcquired 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.
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.
FootnotesIn 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.
CONDITIONTimeLine 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
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With elliptical cell, inset carnelian cabochon with intaglio figure of Poseidon standing naked, only covered by a cloak on his shoulders, holding a trident with left hand, and a net with a stylised dolphin(?) with the right hand; possibly a marriage. 4.97 grams, 26.02 mm overall, 18.30 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)
UK private collection formed before 2000. Ex North London, UK, gallery.
On issues of the Roman colonial coinage of Patras, the image of nude standing Poseidon holding a trident and dolphin is reproduced simultaneously with the most common representations of the god shown standing with one foot resting on a support (rock or dolphin). This type of standing nude Poseidon holding a trident in his left hand and a dolphin in his right is also pictured on the reverse of coins of Agion. -
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