LOT 0075

Romano-British Bronze Adlocutio Type Repousse Brooch

2ND CENTURY A.D.

1 1/4 in. (12.9 grams, 33 mm).

Imitating Hadrian's sestertius adlocutio, the emperor with a companion (or Castor and Pollux) on horseback, one of the horsemen holding a round shield; arrayed legions in front of them wearing crested helmets, raised spears and quadrangular shields; legionary eagle in the foreground; the scene enclosed within a rope border; pin lugs and catchplate to the reverse.

From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection, 1990s.
This brooch is an extreme rarity and is believed to be the finest known example.

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.11747-202502.

Cf. Hattatt, R., Ancient and Romano-British Brooches, Sherborne, 1982, p.147, no.140; for the Hadrian’s coin see Mattingly, Roman Coins from the earliest times to the fall of the Western Empire, London, 1977, pl.XXXIX, 25 (BM inventory no.1672).

These brooches were a mystery until one was excavated at Wiggonholt, Sussex, together with three other damaged specimens now in the Devizes Museum, all from Wiltshire (more precisely Cold Kitchen Hill). The image of the original coin was slightly modified. The local craftsman improved the coin type making his brooch more interesting, transforming the Emperor Hadrian on horseback into two cavalrymen, probably the sacred Dioscuri, while the Roman Aquila, symbol of the legions, was taken from the top of the signa and placed in the foreground.