Roman Redware Oil Lamp

Comprising a shallow discus framed by concentric lines, low-relief image of a standing male reaching for a bowl with his right hand whilst supporting himself by grasping a low pillar with his left hand, filling hole flanking the pillar; volute to each side of the nozzle; maker's mark 'SVRIEPII'. 80 grams, 10.5 cm



Acquired on the European art market, 1980s. English private collection.

The period of activity of several well-known workshops—L M A D I E C , L M V N S V C , E R O T I S , G A B M E R C , and L M S V —is late Flavian to Trajanic, possibly Hadrianic.Based on this, we will not refer to the broader and too approximate dating given by Bailey to his group IV: Claudian to Trajanic.

Comprising a crescent with applied granules to the finials, ribbed loop below with granule supporting a cluster of hollow-formed spheres. 0.76 grams, 17 mm



Acquired London, UK, 1980-2015. From the Abelita family collection.

Bust and torso of an indigenous nobleman modelled in the round; with rounded facial features, the shoulder-length hair dressed in hanks and cut into tiers, centre-parted and framing the face; the eyes exaggerated, probably originally emphasised with sheet-silver detailing; the broad chest smooth with ring-and-dot nipples; a thick collar or torc sitting high on the collar-bone, with braided detailing and finished with a D-shaped pendant; each upper-arm supported by a barley-twist column with cup finial and stylised flames above; the centre supported by a rectangular block with incised herringbone linear pattern interspersed with pointillé pellets; the base broad and gently curved away from the figure, with a lattice of bilinear panels bearing groups of three ring-and-dot motifs, D-shaped loop to the forward edge flanked by smaller lobes; the reverse plain, the head hollow with remains of a thick loop at the lower edge of the hair; significant iron deposits to surface from its deposition environment; of provincial Roman workmanship. 461 grams, 13 cm



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.

Its construction with a central block flanked by two short pillars (i.e. leaving two slots) suggests that the piece may have been intended as a rein-guide for a chariot, whereby the leather or fabric straps would pass through the two apertures and, by their separation, be prevented from tangling. Bronze figural busts are known from Gallo-Roman contexts: they are usually female and interpreted as tutelae or protective tribal spirits (Boucher & Tassinari, 1976, items 62-4). The present example is evidently designed to impress the viewer with its portrayal of the 'noble barbarian' as a suitable conveyor of martial splendour (Boucher & Tassinari, 1976, item 321). The impressive figure recalls the famed statue 'The Dying Gaul' in the Capitoline Museum, Rome, showing a 'barbarian' warrior with a neck torc, thick hair and moustache, discarded weapons and shield carved on the ground and a carnyx trumpet between his legs. The statue is a copy of a Hellenistic original celebrating a Greek victory over the Galatians.