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LOT 0606
Roman Silver ROMA Brooch
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
1 3/8 in. (10 grams, 35 mm).
The monogram in Latin letters, ('R'+'M'+'A', with the 'O' represented by the circular plan of the brooch itself), a palindrome 'AMOR'; complete with pin. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the collection of Alan Hardcastle.
Ex private Merseyside, UK, collection.
Cf. Heynowski, R., Bestimmungsbuch Archaeologie: Fibeln, Munich, 2012, item 3.26.11, for type; for a similar brooch discovered on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, see database in Portable Antiquities Scheme website.
FootnotesThe brooch is composed of the stylised letters ‘RMA’. When viewed from the obverse RMA + the circle of the brooch form a monogram for ‘Roma’. Roma refers to both the city and its divine personification, the Dea Roma. But if RMA is read from right to left (or the brooch is viewed from the opposite side), the letters display a monogram for ‘AMOR’, the Latin name for Cupid, the god of love. The phrase pertains to Roma-Amor, a widely recognised palindrome espousing Roman wordplay in the ancient times.
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AUCTIONS:
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In the Greco-Roman world, the eagle was the symbol of Zeus. It is most probable that this eagle flanked a statue of the god. A story is bruited abroad to the effect that Zeus, wanting to determine the centre of the world, let eagles fly of equal speed from west and east. The birds, flying in opposite directions, met at Pytho and that marked the central point of the whole world. -
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Sogdian Silver Goblet
7th century A.D.Estimate: £1,800 - 2,400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £900
The carinated body with concave upper and convex lower halves, pronounced rib around the equator, shallower ribbing decorating the lower body, slender collared stem and discoid foot. 265 grams, 13 cm high
Acquired on the London art market, 1980-1983.
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