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LOT 0549
Roman 'Vechten Fort' Terracotta Sherd Collection
1ST-4TH CENTURY A.D.
1/4 - 3 in. (586 grams total, 7-74 mm).
Comprising a large quantity of pottery and red-ware sherds from large and small vessels, including an amphora neck and part of a handle. [78, No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound near Vechten, Netherlands.
Netherlands private collection.
Acquired from a private collector in 2009.
Property of a Nottinghamshire gentleman.
Accompanied by a typed information sheet.
Cf. Van Diepen, L., and Niemeijer, R., ‘Die Terra Sigillata aus Forum Hadriani – Arentsburg, Die Funde der Grabung 2005’ in Müller, M., Terra Sigillata in den germanischen Provinzen, Xantener Berichte, Band 20, Mainz, 2011, pp.163-220, pp. 202ff., for similar terra sigillata.
FootnotesFectio, modern Vechten, was a fort in the limes, the frontier zone of the Roman Empire, situated at the site of the bifurcation of the rovers Rhine and Vecht. Numismatic evidence suggests that it was founded by the Roman general Tiberius (the future emperor) during the 4/5th campaigns. It probably served as a military base during punitive raids. Around the middle of the 2nd century AD, the wood and earth fort was replaced by a stone fortification and occupied by the Ala I Thracum, who had previously been stationed in Britain. At the end of the 2nd/beginning of the 3rd century, the silting up of the Rhine’s arm on which Fectio lays had progressed to such an extent that access from the river was no longer possible. In the more than two and a half centuries of its existence, the camp was destroyed and rebuilt several times until the fort site was finally abandoned - as evidenced by archaeological traces of fire after a final destruction in 270/275 A.D.
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LOT 0549
Roman 'Vechten Fort' Terracotta Sherd Collection
Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
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Roman Aubergine Mould Blown Amphoriskos
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Miniature egg-shaped juglet with applied handle and integral foot, mould-blown decoration formed as a medial frieze of scrolling motifs and lines radiating upwards from the base; iridescent surfaces; chipped rim. 17.3 grams, 66 mm high
Acquired early 1990s. Ex private American collection; thence by descent. Private collection since 1998. -
Roman Bronze Nibbling Rat Figurine
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Modelled in the half-round on an elliptical base, forelegs bent clutching a piece of food, saly tail to the rear. 29 grams, 30 mm
UK art market, acquired prior to 1980. Property of an East Sussex, UK, private collector.
Rats can be distinguished from mice by their thick, scaly tails. -
Roman Gold Necklace Element and Earring Set
2nd century A.D.Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,000
Comprising a matching pair of earrings, each composed of a hollow crescentic body tapering to slender coiled wire terminals, a suspension loop to each shoulder, large tear-shaped cell to front with granulated border, set with a polished garnet cabochon, gold bulbs below in the form of a bunch of grapes, adorned with smaller granules and three cells set with polished garnet cabochons; the necklace elements comprising graduated beads, alternating between roughly spherical polished garnets and sheet-gold beads of various types including gusseted, biconical and tubular, two floral filigree pendants flanking a central pendant ornamented with 'plaited' and plain filigree wire with granules to the outside, finial of trefoil bulbs, central corrugated cell set with a polished garnet cabochon; mounted on a custom-made perspex display base. 435 grams total, display stand: 30 x 23.5 cm (earrings: 38 mm each)
Ex private European collection, 1970s. with Genève Enchères, 14 December 2017, Lot 999. 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.11584-199015.
Beryls, used as small pendants, and not placed horizontally, characterised Roman necklaces of 2nd century A.D. A typical example is the necklace found in the grave of Crepereia Tryphaena. The contents of the grave are dated to the Antonine age based on the sarcophagus, the inscription, and the hairstyle of the doll it contains.
