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LOT 0683
'The Kempsey' Roman Bronze Military Eagle Statuette
CIRCA 43-410 A.D.
3 in. (180 grams total, 76 mm high including stand).
Modelled in the round as a standing eagle with its wings spread, the overlapping wingtips covering the short tail; incised feather detailing to the body and wings, wide head with detailed eyes, remains of a military insignia (a victory wreath or fish?) held in its hooked beak; mounted on a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound Kempsey, Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, UK.
Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.WAW-19C7C8.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
See Portable Antiquities Scheme nos. HAMP-5ED544, WAW-7EC54A and DENO-323D62, for similar examples; Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 268.
FootnotesBoth Ovid and Plutarch place the inception of manipular ensigns with Romulus, where bundles (manipuli) of hay were tied to high poles which served as rallying points for units of the army. Eventually, icons of animals replaced these ensigns: the eagle, wolf, Minotaur, horse, and boar. In 107 B.C., Gaius Marius made sweeping military reforms and the Aquila became the sole standard of the legion, which according to (Pliny NH. 10.5.16) ‘By making the Aquila the standard for all legions improved unity and gave soldiers a symbol that expressed their attachment to an all-encompassing body, to which the soldiers’ loyalty could be directed’. Due to its place at the head of each legion, it became the emblem of the Roman legions, which enforced Roman rule in the provinces, giving the eagle its connotation of dominion.
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Lifesize Roman Marble Portrait Head of a Patrician Woman
3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
Carved in fine-grained marble, the head depicting a matron of the patrician class with angular features, pronounced cheekbones and a softly wrinkled brow; her lips finely curved and gently closed, the heavy-lidded eyes incised with irises and drilled pupils, lending an expression of composed attentiveness; the hair parted centrally, arranged in thick curls drawn behind the prominent ears, coiled into a low chignon at the nape and continued as a braided tail over the crown, a coiffure closely associated with the mid-3rd century A.D.; attached to an antique bust, some restoration. 49 kg, 76.5 cm high
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The present work exhibits a distinctive coiffure that gained prominence among aristocratic Roman women during the mid-3rd century A.D., most notably under the empresses Furia Sabinia Tranquillina, consort of Gordian III, and Otacilia Severa, wife of Philippus Arabs. This elaborate arrangement - central parting, voluminous curls, and a braided crown - is a key chronological indicator, allowing the portrait to be securely dated to this period. The head is mounted on an 18th century bust inscribed 'IVLIA MAESA'. While this identification reflects an earlier attribution, current stylistic analysis suggests a slightly later date, aligning the portrait more plausibly with the generation following Julia Maesa’s death in A.D. 224/225. -
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