Roman Silver Military Belt Plaque

CIRCA 4TH CENTURY A.D.

2 1/2 in. (48.7 grams, 66 mm).

Square plaque from a baldric or military belt, with an engraved circle in the centre depicting a shepherd resting under a tree with two crossed branches, leaning on his staff with a greyhound beside him. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From a UK collection since before 1990.

Literature

Cf. Aurrecoechea-Fernandez, J., ‘Placas tardorromanas de bronce de Merida y Totanes, decoradas con personificaciones de la autoridad imperial y la Tiche de Roma (Late Roman bronze plaques found in Merida and Tota)’ in Sautuola/XXII, Santander, 2017, pp.185-220, figs.1,15,18, 19.

Footnotes

The plaque is related to a series of late Antique bronze plates destined to decorate the military baldrics or belts. Some of them were found in a late Roman tomb in Totanés (Toledo), ornamented with busts, and a plaque from Merida (Badajoz) was decorated with the personification of Rome. The plaque is related to similar ones from Italian and Syrian-Palestinian workshops, whose ornamentation seems sometimes to be connected to imperial authority. Parallels are linked to similar pieces of different iconographic types, but which were equally popular in the late Roman Empire, such as hunting or bucolic motifs.

CONDITION

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LOT 0137