Roman Silver Bow Brooch

Comprising a tapering pin with the finial formed as the draped bust of Sol wearing a radiate crown. 9.39 grams, 10.9 cm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

Part of a wax tablet with two holes in the frame for fastening, Greek writing. 45.45 grams, 18.6 x 7.2 cm



Property of a North London gentleman; previously in the Dean family collection since 1975.

Wax tablets written in Greek or Latin, were used by Romans as account registers (codices accepti et expensi); for transactions (for example, the tablets of the banker Lucius Caecilius Iucundus found in Pompeii); for lists of goods, inventories, and notes to be kept and archived; for Roman magistrates to annotate the salient events of their bureaucratic activities; for writing letters; for drawing up legal texts of various kinds: legacies, declarations of births and citizenship, reports of trials and diplomata militaria.

Fragments of wall plaster with rendered surface painted with mainly Pompeii red, pale blue and white detailing; some with impression of timber laths to the reverse. 601 grams total, 4.5-10.6 cm



Acquired in the 19th century. Ex Jeger collection, Switzerland. UK gallery, early 2000s.

These small fragments, for analogies with the fragments of Pompeii, seem to belong to the second style of Roman painting, red panels representing highlight and shadow, decorated with vegetal interlaces. Some panels were probably framed by a red grenade fillet. A fragment shows alternate blue and red colour over a cream background, maybe pertinent to a socle.