Romano-British Bronze Brooch Group

A mixed group of two hundred and fifty single tesserae of various colours and sizes, mostly cuboid. 332 grams total, 7-14 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. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Roman mosaics were made from small cubes of natural stone and terracotta possibly cut from tile or brick. Each of these small cubes was called a tessera (plural tesserae) from the Latin word for dice.

Composed of graduated oblate, spherical and annular beads, central feature with two large spherical beads; restrung. 10.5 grams, 37.5 cm



From the London, UK, art market in the 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

In the Roman period there was a strong formal and chromatic diversity of glass beads used for necklaces and bracelets. The most common beads in forms were small biconical (lenticular), barrel-shaped, spherical and annular; the most common colours were dark blue, followed by green and yellow. The succession of glass beads often imitates jewellery made of costly materials (gold, silver, semi-precious and precious stones).

Hexagonal in plan and pierced centrally, shallow spots disposed 1:6, 2:5, 3:4; old collector's label 'Clermont' and inked number '1258'. 2.6 grams, 14 mm



Louis-Gabriel Bellon (1819–1899), Paris. Anonymous sale, France, 2009. Private European collection, acquired at the above sale. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.