Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Ancient World: Roman (29)

Mold-made factory lamp of Loeschcke type IXb. The sunken discus with a central filling hole, the elongated air-hole pierced along the nozzle channel. The base with a sunken central area.
The shape is known from North Italian makers like Strobilus, Atimeti and others.
Numerous variants of their products were also confectioned in Gaul and Germania, although it is not clear if by branch workshops of by plagiarisers.
For an example close in shape and size, cf. Q1165 PRB in: D...

Rare moldmade lamp decorated with two dolphins and a rosette on the rounded shoulder.
Central filling hole. The broad-tipped nozzle ends in small volutes close to the discus ring.
The base with two raised rings. Surface partially covered with a red-brown glaze.
Near to Loeschcke type II.
For an almost identical example, cf. lamp no. 512 (inv. no. 83.AQ.377.553), p. 370 in: Jean Bussière and Birgitta Lindros Wohl. Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum...

Bright red bowl covered by a dense, smoothed and highly glossy slip.
Deep bowl with shallow floor, steep wall and simple lip. Standing on a ring base.
Roman African red slip ware pottery is characterized by an orange color and a shiny surface.
By the third century AD, fine African red slip pottery wares became the most popular type of tableware in the Roman Empire.
Ceramic
Roman, North Africa, 375-400 AD
D. 12.1 cm (4.8 in)
H...

Rare amuletic pendant in the form of a herm with youthful bust to the top. The slender square section pillar shaped body with lugs to the side. A suspension loop to the back.
Herms were used as boundary markers on roads and borders. They were also placed outside houses to ward off harm or evil. In its amuletic form the herm was associated with fertility and good luck.
Bronze
Roman, 1st-2nd century AD
H. 3.3 cm (1.3 in)
Intact, fine condition...

Group of three Byzantine belt buckles with kidney-shaped, high-sided frames and lateral ridges at the resting point of the pronge.
The heavy pronges are fixed between lugs, their tops are provided with rectangular shields. Some pronges decorated with concentric circles.
The frames correspond to type R (fig. 1, pp. 4-5) in the classification of Schulze-Dörrlamm.
Literature: Mechthild Schulze-Dörrlamm. Byzantinische Gürtelschnallen und Gürtelbeschläge...

Couple of Roman spindle shaped jugs each with wheel ridged body and pointed foot.
The narrow neck with thickened, folded rim. Thick handle from shoulder to rim.
Coarse ceramic with remains of red glaze in places.
Ceramic
Roman, 2nd-4th century AD
H. intact 14 cm (5.5 in)
H. repaired 14.5 cm (5.7 in)
One jug with attached shard to the rim, otherwise intact. The second reconstituted from fragments. Light earthen deposits...

Undecorated Roman lamp inscribed CCLO.SVC on the base.
The impressed mark refers to C(aius) Clo(dius) Suc(cessus) whose Italic workshop had branches in Africa Proconsularis.
Loeschke type VIII lamp with plain discus set off by grooves...

Small blown glass bowl with steep wall and folded-in rim. Standing on a raised base with small pontil mark. Translucent glass with yellow-gold weathering all over.
Old tag on the wall, presumably from an auction house.
Glass
Roman, 2nd-4th century AD
H. 4.8 cm (1.9 in)
D. 6.4 cm (2.5 in)
Intact and fine. Pitting and iridescent weathering. Slightly askew.
Old US private collection, thence US art market.

The authenticity of the object ...

The rim is decorated with a facing Oceanus head showing bushy beards extending to both sides and goat-like ears. The lobster claws expected in the hair of Oceanus are mistakenly rendered as ram horns, the usual attribute for Zeus Ammon.
The Greeks believed Oceanus to be the titan of water, seas, lakes, rivers, oceans, streams and ponds. In the late Roman imagery of North Africa the head of Oceanus presides over displays of sea life.
Ceramic
Roman, North Africa, 350-400 AD ...

Shallow bowl redware fragment showing a fierce lion with the head turned towards the viewer.
The finely modeled lion was taken from a separate mold and applied to the bowl. The procedure was characteristic of Roman North African ceramic workshops.
The motif may belong to the realm of Roman hunt scenes or relate to Christians thrown to the beasts like St. Thecla or Daniel. Apart from that the lion may represent Christ or Marcus the evangelist.
Ceramic
Roman, North Afri...

Broad redware dish rim fragment depicting a very fine and detailed shrub with berries. The relief decoration was taken from a separate mold and applied to the almost flat rim.
The fragment belongs to the rim of a large dish with a calculated diameter of ca. 39 cm (15.4 in). A groove runs along the outer edge.
Ceramic
Roman, North Africa, 250-300 AD
L. 7.4 cm (2.9 in)
H. 5.1 cm (2 in)
D. (estimated) 39 cm (15.4 in)
Superb modeling. Minor flakes ou...