Roman Silver Armilla Snake Bracelet

Modelled seated on its rump with forepaws before the body, head erect with gaping mouth exposing sharp teeth; detailing to the long coat and face. 31.5 grams, 39 mm



‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection.

Complete with pin lug, pin and catchplate to reverse; bird standing right with wings folded against the body, remains of silvered detailing to the feathers and head. 2.9 grams, 25 mm



Found The Rodings, Essex, UK.

Excavating an archaeological site at Salthouse in October 1980, Alex Vines found a bronze bird thought to be part of a Roman duck brooch. The shape was slightly different from our specimen, but it confirmed that brooches shaped as ducks were used by civilians in 2nd-3rd century Roman Britannia. The zoomorphic brooches were typical in Britain as many of the birds shown were either representative of native birds or of ducks.

With a deep bowl and flat-section handle with integral loop; shallow concentric grooves around the exterior of the neck, rolled rim, concentric rings to the underside; finished on a lathe; cracked and split. 903 grams, 33 cm wide



Acquired in Europe before 1993. Private collection, Europe. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11788-206494.

In contrast to their elaborate counterparts, paterae such as this were likely carried as part of the standard kit of Roman soldiers, used as a general cooking and eating utensil. The regular heap up (sarcina) of the legionaries is well represented on the reliefs of the Trajan column. It was composed of a T stake (furca), to which a linen bag (sacculus) was hung, as well as the leather haversack for 15-20 days supplies (trinum nundinum) and personal effects, a pot (ollula), a cup (patera), and a basket for work on the fields.