Roman Redware Sherd with Giant Geryon

3RD-4TH CENTURY A.D.

3 in. (36 grams, 78 mm).

A fragment of redware ceramic from a moulded vessel, low-relief design depicting the giant Geryon as a helmetted Roman Miles advancing, with gladius held ready in both his left hands and a studded round shield; modern mounting loop to the reverse. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Acquired 1960s-1990s.
From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.

Literature

See D'Amato, R., Roman Army Units in the Eastern Provinces (2), Oxford, 2022, p.41, for the iconography of Geryon as Roman legionary.

Footnotes

The image is a representation of the giant Geryon, a monster killed by Herakles usually represented with three bodies and three heads, or three heads and one body, or three bodies and one head. In the Roman iconography (but already visible in Greek iconography) he is often represented as an armoured warrior. The original pottery to which the fragment belonged was probably originally decorated with the labours of Hercules.

CONDITION

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LOT 0608