Catalog (309)

Archaic satyr with protruding almond-shaped eyes, enormous snub nose, and full lips with slight archaic smile.
The prominent forehead with a receding hairline and animal ears. The smooth beard with a tiny mustache.
The satyr carries a krater whose volute handle and rim appear close to the left ear. The rim of the vessel is partially missing, as is the second handle.
The pectoral muscle is clearly visible, including the preserved right hand.
The figure of a satyr runni...

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...

Eros leans on an oval shield which rests on a square altar. The chubby god of love is shown with crossed leg, both arms rest on an oval shield with broad border.
The oval face absorbed in thought, parted hair with wavy strands, all surmounted by a stippled wreath. The wings are omitted. Superb modeling. Traces of a white coat remain.
For a body taken from the same mold, cf. item no. 1867,0508.657 in the British Museum database.
Unlike the London example, our figure shows a ...

Native Apulian jug of globular body with tapering neck, everted rim and strap handle. The body, the neck and the outside of the base with circumferential bands of brown glaze. Top of the rim and outside of the handle also glazed. Standing on a flat disk base.
The Messapians were a South Italian tribe settled in the Salento area. Related to the Peucetes and the Daunians they belonged to the group of the Iapyges. These populations created important urban centers and had rather difficult rel...

The panels with extraordinary depictions of a gender-based division of labor.
The hunting scene shows a naked man with a spear grasping at a bird hidden behind a large ivy leaf which may represent the forest grove.
On the other side a woman with diminutive head and outstretched arms. Assuming that plants are denoted by contouring dots, she is standing next to three trees in her garden.
Figural depictions on this type of pottery are rare. Ingenuous style in silhouette techni...

Translucent, pale green glass with seven vertical ribs along the piriform body.
Small constriction at the join to the cylindrical neck. The flared mouth with inward folded rim. Standing on a rounded base.
The surface with areas of silvery iridescence.
Similar bottles are commonly found in Roman Period funerary contexts and sometimes referred to as lacrimaria – tear containers.
Other denominations like unguentaria (oil container) or balsamaria (balsam container) ref...

Rare bag-shaped glass vessel with a rod handle arching over the flared rim. The shoulder decorated with spiral trails. The concave base with a pontil scar.
Semi-transparent light green glass with layers of silvery iridescence.
Glass
Roman, Eastern Mediterranean, 3rd-4th century AD
H. 6.6 cm (2.6 in)
Intact and fine. Rare shape.
Swiss private collection Edgar A. Mills, prior to 1956.

The authenticity of the object is unconditionally guarante...

Fine hand-modeled amphora with ribs on either side of the belly. False cord decoration impressed on the ribs and at the join to the straight neck.
The handles span from the slightly flared mouth to the shoulder. They show notches on top and impressed triangles on the outside.
The base is slightly set off from the body. Carefully smoothed surface. Dendrite-like deposits in places.
Ceramic, Impasto ware
Early Etruscan, 700-650 BC
H 15 cm (5.9 in)
Intact, f...

Egyptian turquoise shabti depicted mummiform with tripartite wig and false beard. The big edgy head with faint features.
The barely visible hands crossed over the chest with no implements or basket. Flat back.
Turquoise faience with unglazed areas on the sides and on the head.
Related to items 5.3.4.82-93, pl. 78, pp. 218-219 in: Hans D. Schneider. Shabtis. Leiden 1977.
The group is dated by Schneider to the (late) Late Period, 30th Dynasty to Ptolemaic.
Collec...

Finely modeled faience amulet of the Egyptian dwarf god Pataikos.
The figure is shown nude, crouching with his legs apart on top of a square base. Pataikos holds his hands to either side of the protruding belly. A groove along the chest and abdomen to the navel.
Well shaped facial features, with a line incised at the limit of the shaven hair.
No back pillar. Legs and arms in open-work. Grooved loop for suspension to the back of the neck.
Ptah the Dwarf, also known un...

Large pale green Djed pillar amulet with high shaft and four horizontal bars. Delicate ropes delineated around the shaft immediately below the lowest bar.
The narrow column on the back is not pierced.
The Djed pillar amulet was connoted with stability and endurance and supposed to confer these qualities to the deceased.
The amulet was placed for magical protection over the throat of the deceased on the day of burial. The used green colored material stands for new live and r...

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 filling hole at center, tiny air hole pierced below.
Plain outward-sloping shoulder with arched bowshaped volutes, whose knobs continue down the side of the basin wall.
The nozzle separated from the discus by a straight horizont...

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. 4.5 cm (1.8 in)

Fine red slip ware bowl on a low ring base, the flat floor offset from the steep wall by a groove.
The flat rim with a fine groove around the outer edge. All covered by a thin smoothed slip.
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. 16 cm ...

Fine bowl on a low ring base, the floor with two concentric grooves. The inside of the rim with steps along a central ridge. Eight groups of notches on the lip. Thin smoothed slip.
Shape form 71A – Hayes 1101-1102 – fig. 34, pl.55, pp. 227-228 in: John W. Hayes. Roman Pottery and Fine-Ware Imports. The Athenian Agora. Vol. 32. Princeton 2008.
Ceramic
Roman, North Africa, 375-400 AD
D. 15.3 cm (6 in)
H. 4.7 cm (1.9 in)
Intact. Pockmarked surface with ...

The head of Dionysos with almond-shaped eyes, a strong nose and a small mouth with pursed lips.
The broad beard with fine wavy strands. Undulated, slender moustache. The hairdo with strands of hair that end in curls, without the hair band above. Traces of red (carmine) pigment on the forehead and the beard.
Fine archaic style, excellent modeling. Mounted on an acrylic stand.
For a related example, cf. fig. no. C388, Staatliche Antikensammlung Munich.
Terracotta decor...

Bichrome painted linen cartonnage fragment from the coffin of a lady named Hebu.
The curved outer surface is decorated with three lines of hieroglyphic text reading: (1) … with the companion of his glorified state … (2) [Heb]u justified (f), with the air … (3) Hebu justified …
The female name Hebu is recorded with Ranke, 236, 16.
Square openings on the side to fit the piece with other parts of the coffin.
Cartonnage is a type of material used in ancient Egypt ...

Bow adornment of a fibula in the shape of an elongated bird.
The animal is shown in alert pose with outstretched head. It shows a pointed beak, donut-like eyes, and a body carved with parallel lines to render the plumage.
For a related example, cf. Christie’s East New York, sale no. 200A (06 June 1981), part of lot no. 19.
The notch on the bottom to bear the metal components of the fibula, which are now lost.
The used material is animal tooth, remains of dental enam...