Roman Terracotta Coin Forger's Mould

Modelled in the round with an elongated neck, right foreleg raised, head turned slightly to the right with open mouth wearing a bridle, short mane and tail with ribbed engraved decoration, inscription 'AMATOR' next to a branch; lower parts of three legs absent. 376 grams, 11.1 cm



Found Norfolk, UK. Acquired on the UK art market in the 1980s. From an East Anglian 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 no.13549-262542.

Romans frequently used 'amator' combined with a noun to show a deep dedication to a particular craft or lifestyle. On a freestanding bronze horse statue, it could be a self-dedication by the person who commissioned it. Alternatively, 'amator' could be the name of the person who owned the statue or a demonstration of dedication to a specific horse or craft of horse-breeding.

Carved in three-quarter view, with hair dressed in a chignon with frontal band and wavy segments; soft facial features with much detailing remaining to the proper right eye and mouth; likely a frieze fragment; mounted on an old collector's display stand with typed label 'Marble, woman's head / Egypt / C.25-100 A.D. / Cat.No. 6169'. 8.45 kg, 39 cm high



Acquired in trade from the San Franciscanum Museum, Israel, prior to 1980. with Archaeologia, pre 1983, Switzerland and Canada. 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.12964-242755.

The arrangement of the hair is characteristic of female portraits dating between the late Severan and Tetrarchic periods. The head, due to the treatment of the hair, finds comparisons with a female portrait in the Museo Nazionale Romano, depicting an elderly woman of the Antonine era, and with another female portrait in the same museum, dated to the third decade of the 3rd century A.D., reworked in the Tetrarchic period, and which showed a Severan so-called Nest Frisur hairstyle. The sculpture in question can therefore be dated between the 3rd century A.D. and the first decades of the 4th century A.D. based on the hairstyle, the shape of the eyes and the eyebrows.

An oval brooch with raised rim and bezel with inserted conical black stone, pin and catchplate to the reverse. 7.04 grams, 23.1 mm



Acquired on the UK art market in the 1980s. From an East Anglian private collection.