Roman Tinned Bronze Galley Brooch

Dressed in voluminous robes with pleating to the undergarment, the figure depicted in contrapposto position with her weight on the left leg and right leg bent at the knee, a square pillar flanking the right leg; both arms raised with the open palms facing upwards; standing on a square pedestal; hollow form. 266 grams, 22 cm



Ex London gallery, UK, 1980s. Ex private UK collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The figure represents a woman caught in the act of offering; originally, she probably had a patera and a gift in the other hand. The statuette has a plain back as it probably was intended to be placed in a shrine inside a votive deposit. In the now empty space there could have been a name and a painted dedication.

Blue glass disc with white glass past overlay imitating onyx, showing the nurturing of baby Dionysos, raised by nymphs on Mount Nysa: the infant god standing on the lap of a nymph, another standing right, Silenus standing left and leaning in on the scene, a tree in the background; set into a later gold setting with applied wire scrolls and tendrils on the sides with an applied filigree band below, wide loop above fronted by an applied decorative plaque set with a garnet cabochon. 21.36 grams, 48 mm



Private collection of a London gentleman, acquired between 1965-2020. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Ittai Gradel. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12680-235465. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Dr Ittai Gradel writes: 'Cameos with Dionysiac motifs were especially popular in the mid- to later first century BC, and the prolific workshop of the gem carver Sostratos specialized in such motifs (see I. Gradel, ‘A tale of two fragments: a Sostratos cameo reconstructed’, The Burlington Magazine 162 (March 2020), 181-87). The original, lost stone cameo, from which this glass version was cast, belongs in this period and ambience. The glass cast was presumably contemporary with the original cameo, possibly slightly later, but the glass is in any case clearly ancient (corrosion, iridescence).'

Comprising a slender hoop and balustered shoulders, raised discoid bezel with a hippocampus within a pelletted border. 5.41 grams, 24.65 mm overall, 19.90 mm internal diameter (approximate size British S, USA 9, Europe 20, Japan 19)



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.