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LOT 0117
Roman Terracotta Lamp with Fighting Gladiators
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
4 7/8 in (84 grams, 12.4 cm).
Composed of a discoid body with sunken discus bearing a scene of two gladiators in combat in relief, tabula ansata below, ring handle and roughly D-shaped nozzle with volutes; old crack to base.
ProvenanceFrom a German collection.
Ex Cambridge, UK, collection, 1980s.
Cf. Gilbert, F., Devenir Gladiateur, la vie quotidienne á l'ecole de la mort, La Capelle-Marival, 2013, pp.30-31, for similar lucernae.
FootnotesThe two gladiators seem to be wearing the armaturae of murmillones. All gladiators began their career as provocatores; the learning of their combat technique was polyvalent and allowed the fighters to specialise as a large shield-bearer (the scutati) like murmillones, or as a small shield-bearer, parmati, like the oplomachus.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0117
Roman Terracotta Lamp with Fighting Gladiators
Estimate £1,000 - 1,400€1,160 - 1,620 (for guidance only)$1,350 - 1,890 (for guidance only)
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Roman Bronze Dish
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
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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. -
Roman Limestone Capital
Circa 2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
Square in plan with four tiered acanthus-leaves with deep undercuts; cylindrical column. 16.8 kg, 28 cm wide
Ex Paris collection. French gallery, Paris, 1990-2000s.
The capital seems near the types used in the Roman East, in particular the Alexandrian capital of type I or II, or maybe belonging to a transitional style driving to the semplificate type of the so called blocked-out capitals (a particular type of architectural decoration characterised by a simplified form). -
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1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Modelled in the round reclining with weight on the left arm, left leg drawn up, head turned. 26 grams, 37 mm
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.
