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LOT 0787
Roman Pewter Cignus Spoon with Coiled Swan-Neck Handle
4TH CENTURY A.D.
3 3/8 in. (42.4 grams, 85 mm).
With large oval bowl and a long, slender handle, compressed into S-shape and terminating in a stylised bird’s head.
ProvenanceFound near Welney, Cambridgeshire, in 1985.
LiteratureCf. Johns, C.M., The Hoxne Late Roman Treasure: Gold Jewellery and Silver Plate, London, 2010, no.81, for identical.
FootnotesSimilar silver spoons (cygni), were found within a set of ten spoons (today at the British Museum with inventory nos. 1994,0408.81-90) with ownership inscriptions. The handle attachment of such spoons had some decorative profiling, and the name 'AVRVRSICINI' within the bowl was inlaid with niello. The spoons seems to have been produced by a Romano-British workshop of Late Antiquity (4th-5th centuries A.D.). The cygnus was a particular type of ligula. This type was characterised by a large, oval-shaped bowl, but was equipped, unlike the common ligula, with a shortened, recurved handle which terminated in a stylised water bird or swan's head (swan = cygnus in Latin).
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LOT 0787
Roman Pewter Cignus Spoon with Coiled Swan-Neck Handle
Estimate £400 - 600€460 - 700 (for guidance only)$540 - 810 (for guidance only)
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Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Fortuna
1st-2nd century A.D.Estimate: £700 - 900 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £389
The oval intaglio depicting the goddess standing, facing right, dressed in peplos, holding a steering-oar and cornucopia. 1.33 grams, 16 mm
Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Important North West London collection.
Fortuna was the Roman equivalent of the Greek Tyche, and was the goddess of fate, chance and luck. The cornucopia symbolises the abundance of good luck that people hoped for in worshipping her and the rudder symbolises her steering the destiny of people. In the city of Rome, she had a temple in the Forum Boarium. The goddess had many aspects such as Fortuna Augusta, the luck of the emperor and the Imperial family, Fortuna Publica, the luck of the people, and Fortuna Obsequens, indulgent fortune, amongst many others. -
Roman Silver Head of a Panther
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Modelled with naturalistic detailing, open mouth with large fangs, wide-eyes with pointed ears; angled recess to reverse for attachment. 5.3 grams, 16 mm
‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection. -
Roman Bronze Military Belt Mount
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Composing two opposed dragonesque figures with tail and lowered head, sitting on a peltate style cut out. 19.7 grams, 35 mm
Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a Ruislip, UK, gentleman, by inheritance.
Belt appliques and decorations change notably during the centuries of the Roman Empire. In around 2nd-3rd centuries A.D., particularly in Pannonia and in Britain, show many very Celtic orientated fittings, maybe as the result of provincial influences within the army or production systems.
