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LOT 0670
Roman 'Thames' Bone Gaming Piece and Dice Group
1ST-4TH CENTURY A.D.
1/4 - 2/3 in. (8 grams total, 7-18 mm).
Comprising six polished discoid counters and a single dice, the latter configured: 1:6; 2:5; 3:4 in punched ring-and-dot markers. [7, No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound Billingsgate spoil from the Thames foreshore, London, UK.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Roman Bone and Other Gaming Piece Collection
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Most discoid in form and displaying a variety of designs: a ring of dimples; dot-in-ring motifs within roundels; 'stars' with dimpled terminals; a five-pointed star; a lozenge-shaped counter displaying punched ring-and-dot motifs to one face. 24.4 grams total, 21-41 mm
Gabby family collection since the late 1960s; thence by descent. -
Roman Terracotta Lamp with Fighting Gladiators
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,300
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. 84 grams, 12.4 cm
From a German collection. Ex Cambridge, UK, collection, 1980s.
The two gladiators seem to wear 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-bearers, parmati, like the oplomachus. -
Roman Bronze Hod Hill Type Brooch
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Of unusual style, similar to the Hod Hill type with a rectangular plate, two bulbs above and below, integral spring and pin to the reverse; below the plate a fine extension returned beneath to form the catchplate. 6.56 grams, 50 mm
Acquired 1970s-1980s. From a London brooch collector.
