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LOT 0790
Roman Redware Ram Pottery Sherd
CIRCA 4TH-5TH CENTURY A.D.
3 in. (50 grams, 77 mm wide).
Fragment of a terracotta votive statuette representing a ram, detail to the horns, ears and fleece; set with a suspension ring on the reverse. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired 1960s-1990s.
From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
Cf. Burr, D., ‘The terracotta figurines’ in Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol. 2, No. 2, The American Excavations in the Athenian Agora: First Report, (1933), pp.184-194, fig.7, no.636, T50, for similar.
FootnotesMany figurines of this type have been found in the Hellenised Roman provinces of the east and one identical in the Athenian Agora. They are all rendered with incisions that are characteristic of the technique of the late fourth century. Many similar examples were found in the Kerameikos and some are in the National Museum of Archaeology, Athens. A similar technique is observable in the plastic handles representing animal heads which occur on red pottery ornamented with white paint.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Medical Implements and Schist Pallet
2nd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Sub-rectangular pallet with ground socket to one face; two cosmetic or scribal spoons. 47 grams total, 7-12 cm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Roman Glass Unguentarium
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
With globular body, convex base, tall tubular neck, flat original rim and iridescent surface. 68 grams, 12.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Roman Bronze Wild Boar Chariot Fitting Pair
Circa 2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,950
Matched pair of chariot fittings, each formed as the head and forelegs of a boar with open mouth and prominent tusks, developing to a crescentic square-section body with knop finial, supported on a column and square-section tiered base; mounted on custom-made display stands. 1.13 kg total, 22.5 cm high including stand
Ex Ancient Art, North London, UK. 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. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12058-212073.
The fittings were possibly part of a decoration of a Thraco-Roman chariot. Sometimes the ends of the yokes were covered with bronze toppers geometrically shaped or decorated with figures of a lion, a wild boar (our example), a goat, etc. Often, instead of these toppers, there were the so-called bronze distributors. Some were without decoration and others had geometric decoration. The most common ones were those sculpted as two opposing panthers (rarely lions).
