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LOT 0081
Roman Satyr Traveller Gemstone in Gold Ring
1ST-3RD CENTURY A.D.
1 in. (8.22 grams, 27.20 mm overall, 22.95 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O, USA 7, Europe 14.98, Japan 14)).
A garnet cabochon with intaglio satyr traveller advancing with staff and pouch over his shoulder, set into a later gold finger ring.
ProvenanceAcquired 1960s-1990s.
Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11619-199018.
Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 321, for type; Richter, G.M.A., Engraved Gems of the Romans, London, 1971, no.184.
FootnotesThe subject was popular on Roman gems: Silenus and the satyrs, grotesque hedonists, unrestrained in their desire for sex and wine, and yet immortal companions of Dionysus, were considered ‘cruder than men and yet somehow wiser, combining mischief with wisdom, lewdness with skill in music, animalism with divinity'. The counterpoint of the divine and the atavistic appealed to the Roman sense of moral superiority.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0081
Roman Satyr Traveller Gemstone in Gold Ring
Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,940
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Roman Opaque White Glass Vessel
1st-2nd century A.D.Estimate: £450 - 650 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £250
An opaque white glass cup or other vessel with trumpet-style neck and rim, slightly convex body and everted foot. 32.5 grams, 65 mm wide
Fine condition, repaired.
Acquired 1969-1999. London collection of the late Mr S.M., thence by descent. -
Roman Glass Flask with Trails
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
A pear-shaped pale green glass flask with broad flared neck, applied trails to the neck and broader, undulating trails to the equator embellished with raised ledges; areas of iridescence; old French collection label to base dated c.1900 A.D. 59 grams, 12 cm high
French collection, 1960s-early 2000s. From an important Paris gallery, France. -
Roman Silver-Gilt Cicada Brooch
4th-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £494
A silver-gilt brooch in form of cicada with hollow-formed D-section head and neck, flat triangular wings; the head with bulbous eyes above a waisted neck; granule detailing to the head; pin-lug and catch-wire to the reverse. 3.82 grams, 23 mm
Acquire in the 1990s. Ex Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.
This type of brooch was popular among the Hunnic tribes, as well as in Roman Pannonia and Illyricum before the arrival of the Huns. Early Hunnic designs from Pannonia may have borrowed from late Roman types. With the arrival of new populations due to migration from the east, a new material culture developed, described as the Danubian or Ponto-Danubian style, as many of its features appear in the Pontic region as well. Although the exact meaning of the cicada brooch is not known to us, it is possible that it retained its ancient symbolism of rebirth or regeneration of the soul.
