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LOT 0714
Roman Silvered Bronze Military Horse Harness Pendant
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
2 in. (8.57 grams, 50 mm).
A discoid pendant with scalloped edges and onion-knop finial, recurving loop with beast-head finial.
ProvenanceEx German art market, 2000s.
Acquired from an EU collector living in London.
From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Bronze Peacock Statuette
3rd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
With rounded body and small lateral wings, broad fanned tail with radiating lines and ring-and-dt motifs; mounted on a custom-made stand. 60.7 grams total, 75 mm including stand
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
The peacock had a dual symbolism in the Graeco-Roman world. In the pagan world it was the symbol of the goddess Hera (Roman Juno) and represented her beauty and immortality. In the Roman-Christian world it became a symbol of the resurrection of Christ, owing to its yearly moult and regrowth of its spectacular feathers. -
Roman Bone Scabbard Attachment
3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Carved with dentilled edge above and scooped base, lateral fluting, median rib and comma-shaped voids; to reverse, lateral slots to accept the case of the scabbard. 19.2 grams, 64 mm
From a London, UK, collection, 1990s.
The box chapes were a clear category of scabbard closures for the 3rd century Roman swords. The shape of the chape was that of a high rectangle laterally closed by a flat border remembering a box; the sides enlarge in a bow shape on the lower part. Miks has divided the category in three variants, A-B-C, each of them divided into two sub-variants. They were mainly made of bone, although specimens in bronze (Corbridge, Aquincum) and iron (Kunzing, Dura Europos? This last very corroded) and even in silver (Hortbágy) survive. -
Roman Bronze Statuette of Mercury
3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Modelled nude, standing on an ellipsoid base with mantle to the left shoulder and caduceus supported by the left arm, item (perhaps a marsupium) in the right hand, winged petasos to the head with bird perched above the left ear; mounted on a custom-made stand. 38.5 grams total, 82 mm including base
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
The statuette belongs to Gallo-Roman glyptic tradition, whose geometric treatment of the drapery recalls that of a statuette in the Avignon museum and the statue of the seated god of Sommerécourt (Haute-Marne) of Celtic tradition. The winged petasos, as in many other statuettes, seems to be made of tortoise shell.
