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LOT 0925
Roman Silver Horse Brooch
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
1 1/2 in. (16.5 grams, 37 mm).
Zoomorphic bow brooch with hexagonal-section head and hinge for the pin, bow forming the horse's body and smaller bow for the neck with hatched mane; catch formed by the forelegs.
ProvenanceAcquired on the London art market in the late 1980s-1990s.
From the family collection of an East London, UK, gentleman.
Cf. Heeren, S. & van der Feijst, L., Fibulae uit de Lage Landen. Beschrijving, Analyse en Interpretatie van een Archeologische Vondstcategorie, Amersfoort, 2017, plate 26, item 28.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Roman Votive Hand to God Sabazios
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
Hollow-formed right hand from a statuette, with fingers splayed and flat palm, good anatomical detailing. 362 grams, 12.1 cm
Private collection 1990s. Ex London, UK, gallery.
The votive character of the hand could link it to the God Sabazios, often associated with a number of archaeological finds depicting a bronze, right hand in the benedictio latina gesture. The hand appears to have had ritual significance and may have been affixed to a sceptre (as the one carried by Sabazios on a slab, one from Philippopolis, nowadays Plovdiv in Bulgaria). The association with Sabazios is sometimes suggested in similar hands, by the presence of a snake embossed around the circumference of the hand, because the iconic image of the god or hero on horseback battling the chthonic serpent, appears on Celtic-Roman votive columns, and with the coming of Christianity it was easily adapted to the representations of Saint George fighting the Dragon. -
Roman and Byzantine Bronze Ring Group
Circa 3rd-16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Including trumpet-bezel, square bezel, ellipsoid bezel and other types. 25 grams total, 15-24 mm
Ex C. Sullivan collection, UK, 1990s. -
Roman Marble Head of a Young Man
2nd-3rd century A.D.Estimate: £4,000 - 6,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £2,000
Worked in high-relief with hairstyle typical of the transitional period from the Consulate to the Empire; oval face with a prominent forehead, oval eyelids and clearly defined lines around the eyes; hair arranged in vertical lines combed back from the forehead; pronounced lips, typical rendering of the wide auricles; the lower part of the tunic visible with a well defined round edge around the neck; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 5.94 kg total, 22.5 cm high including stand
Acquired from Gallery Gryphos, Munich, 1992. European private collection. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11996-211878.
The head was probably pertinent to a series of funerary family portraits. It has realistic modelling of male features, which speaks of a portrait in reduced dimensions or a reference to a well-known person in the environment where it was exhibited. The portrait is worked only on the front, leaving the back, as well as the lower part of the sculpture, roughly treated.
