Roman Phallic Amulet

A bronze figure or gaming piece of a nude female in crouching pose with hands placed on the hips, possibly giving birth; the hair shown drawn up in a bun, segmented armband to each upper arm. 30.4 grams, 28 mm high



Private Swiss collection, acquired 2002.

The dice features six attitudes on which it could land when rolled, one of which includes the figure's head. The earliest concrete historical evidence of games played with dice originated from ancient Egypt, circa 3000 B.C., although it is generally believed by historians that dice pre-dated the ancient Egyptian civilisation. The Romans played two games using dice: Tali and Tesserae. The former originated in Greece and features four animal bones. The aim was to roll in such a way that each die displayed a different number-the higher the combined number, the greater the score. The latter was played using three dice, the goal being to roll triple six, or to achieve the highest combined numbers out of the contestants; it was a game of chance and the most common street and tavern gambling game in ancient Rome. ‘Dogs’ referred to poor scores and ‘Venus’ to high ones. Roman players rolled dice from a special cup called a fritillium onto wood, bronze, or marble boards, depending on their class and wealth. Roman elites boasted ornate boards inscribed with their names. The gambling which ensued from dice games caused extreme social issues in Roman society, leading the government to eventually outlaw dice games, although these laws were largely ignored.

A copper-alloy medical instrument group comprising: a bowl with incised geometric decoration; a rectangular palette with bevelled edges; knife with single-edged iron blade and decoratively incised pommel; spoon with circular bowl, collared stem with expanded waist and finial formed as a probe; pin with tapering round-section body, shallow conical finial and decoratively incised head; a scoop probe with remains of elongated shallow scoop, expanded neck with collars, slender ribbed stem and bulbous probe to terminal; scoop with leaf-shaped bowl and balustered stem. 332 grams total, 4.8-17 cm



Acquired before 2000. From the collection of a European gentleman living in the UK.

A bone astragalus gaming piece with flattened base and upper face, from the game of 'knuckle bones'. 9.7 grams, 33 mm

Fine condition.

Ex UK art market, 1970s. Property of a London gentleman.