Latest News from the Trust for Ancient Art

19 days remaining in the Trust for Ancient Art's crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo. We.ve so far raised $417 of our $2,000 goal (about 21%).

We have some exciting developments to tell you about.

* We are in discussions with the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, NC about initiating a temporary gallery of ancient Mediterranean art sometime next year. This would utilize the Mint's existing collection of antiquities (long hidden in storage and never shared with the public), gifts from our own Clio Ancient Art, and from private owners. As the Trust has now gifted all its holdings and is working to acquire more (part of the idea behind this campaign), Clio will offer several high quality items for display in this exhibit, part of a 1-year loan.

* We have completed the process of working with the Mint Museum to properly classify and catalog the 120 or so antiquities so long hidden in their basement, allowing us to assist them in possibly purging the collection of less display-worthy items.

* We have identified a source for several quality Trust acquisitions for next year. Once this campaign has ended we will share more details on this point.

* Finally, curatorial staff at the Mint Museum continue to share their enthusiasm for the 14th Century Medieval English floor tile gifted to them by the Trust last month. They recognize it as an important addition, filling a major gap in their extensive holdings of English ceramic materials.

Thanks again to everyone who has made a gift so far. Your perks will mail out the last week of September. And please continue to share information information about our campaign to all who might be interested, at http://igg.me/at/Ancient-Art-Education-for-All/x/4074220

Follow Clio on All Sorts of Social Netowrking Sites...

Clio is on all sorts of social networking sites –

Our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clio-Ancient-Art-Antiquities/247378388593?fref=ts
 
Do you Tweet? Here’s our Twitter page: https://twitter.com/Kourionis
 
LinkedIn member? follow us at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-maupin/23/400/612
 
We’re also on Tumblr: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/clioancientart
 
Join our new Yahoo Group at: clioancientart-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
 
Of course we’re also on Redditt: http://www.reddit.com/r/ANTIQUITIES/
 
We have a great Flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/99038255@N06/
 
And last but not least, Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/clioancientart/boards/

Labor Day Sale!

 Hello Clio Customers, Friends & Fans:

Weekend Only Flash Sale -- Beginning this Friday, August 30, 12:00 Noon Eastern Standard Time, ending Monday, September 2, 12:00 Noon Eastern Standard Time.

15% OFF ALL ANTIQUITIES
10% OFF ALL ANCIENT COINS
10% OFF EVERYTHING IN OUR BOOKS, CATALOGS, FRAMED & UNFRAMED ART SECTION

Website: http://www.clioancientart.com/

We've also added several nice ancient coins to our ancient coins section (21 lots to choose from: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c18_p1.html), as well as several nice Roman and Viking small bronze objects (fibulae and rings). Here are some links -
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i449.html
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i445.html
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i452.html
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i454.html
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i453.html

Finally, we have just 26 days left in our crowd funding campaign for the Ancient Art Trust and we've raised only $417 of our $2,000 target. If you can, please consider a gift of any amount to help us continue our important work with museums and universities: http://igg.me/at/Ancient-Art-Education-for-All/x/4074220

Thanks again for looking and best wishes,

Chris M. Maupin
Clio Ancient Art and Antiquities
Chris Maupin Trust for Ancient Art

A Few More Additions To Our Website...

All very simple and affordable. Links directly to the detail pages for these items are included here.

Roman Empire, Aurelian, AD 317-326. Silvered Antoninianus

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i451.html

Roman Knee Fibula (Brooch)

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i452.html

Viking Bronze Penannular Brooch

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i449.html

Roman "Kraftig Profilierte" Fibula (Brooch)

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i454.html

Antiquities Added to Our Website

We've added several items to our online stock of antiquities, many of them quite affordable. Here's a sample (with links):

 

Roman Enameled Bronze Finger Ring

CULTURE / REGION OF ORIGIN: Roman Empire (England)
DATE: 2^nd-early 4th Century CE
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i445.html 

 
Crispus, Son of Constantine the Great
 Caesar, AD 317-326. Bronze AE-3
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i446.html

Postumus, British Usurper Emperor 
AD 260-269. Silver Antoninianus
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i448.html 

More items being added next week (1st week of September). Check back frequently at:
http://www.clioancientart.com/index.html 

 

Roman Bronze Fibulae (Brooches)

In the previous article we offered a brief review of small Roman bronze antiquities. One group of objects making up a large proportion of small bronze antiquities available on the market is the fibula or brooch, an ornate pin, usually made of copper alloy but sometimes of precious metals, used to fasten clothing prior to buttons coming into common use. Because this is such a diverse and widely collected type we thought it best to review fibulae separately in this article.

Fibulae had a long pre Roman history throughout what would become the Roman Empire. Many Roman fibulae reflect earlier local traditions and styles. The example pictured below, from the Iberian Peninsula, dates to the transitional period when what is now Spain and Portugal were gradually falling under Roman control. The acorn shaped knob at the “foot” end is typical of pre Roman Iberian and Iberian-Celtic style. Otherwise, its form is typical of most Roman brooches in the western parts of the Empire: A coiled spring, at the end of which is a pin that rests in a catch plate, just like a modern safety pin. The bow of the brooch offers the manufacturer the opportunity to enhance the otherwise plain surface with gilding, silvering, tinning, enameling, punch marking, chip carving or any number of other decorative devices.

                                                                                                                                                                                        Link to this object: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i44.html

While the great majority of Roman brooches are simple and undecorated bronze (see  1st Century European example directly below) some examples utilize the decorative schemes mentioned above.

                                         Link to this object: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i32.html

The brooch’s owner might have a “fancier” piece custom made by a local craftsman or have an ordinary example enhanced to look “upmarket” with a layer of tin (to make it look like silver) or of silver or even gold. The example pictured here, dating to the early 1st Century, is a case in point: a fairly straightforward brooch has been enhanced with a layer of gilding, much of it still remaining.

                                Link to this object: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i155.html

Not all fibulae were sprung pin types based on a bow shape. Others were based on a round plate, sometimes with a central boss, while others were flat plates cast in a wide variety of forms, including animals and mythological creatures.

This group of six is on display in the Roman galleries of The British Museum, London, and illustrates the variety of decorative schemes used on circular brooches, including colored enamel, gilding, and the use of glass “gems” in the center.

 The group below is on display at the Verulamium Museum, at the site of Roman Verulamium, today’s St Albans, England. It includes typical bow brooches, most enhanced with cast or punched decoration, silvering and other techniques, as well as penannular types.

 Fibula types evolved over time, of course, and during the late Roman period, between the end of the 3rd Century and end of the 5th, the most common type was the “crossbow” brooch, so named on account of its shape. Very elaborate examples in solid gold, solid silver, gilt or silvered bronze, often including decorative enhancements of niello (black silver sulfide) were given by Imperial officials to loyal officers and others worthy of honors. Many of these have been found in burials of the period. Still, most crossbow fibulae were of simple bronze with cast or punched decoration. The example below, one of several we’ve sold over the years, is typical.

 The late Roman crossbow type evolved into still more forms and with the arrival in both western and eastern Europe of many migrants from the east and north (the so-called Barbarians) new tastes in personal adornment were introduced. In some regions, Scotland for example, the use brooches continued well past the Medieval period, at least for decorative purposes. But new clothing styles suitable for a changed climate demanded the use of buttons and clasps, gradually phasing out the use of brooches.

There are many excellent resources for this specific area of antiquities collecting available both in print and online. Here a few we recommend:

Justine Bayley & Sarnia Butcher, Roman Brooches in Britain: A Technological and Typological Study Based on the Richborough Collection, The Society of Antiquaries of London, 2004.

Richard Hattatt, Ancient and Romano-British Brooches, Oxford, 1982.

http://finds.org.uk/   The UK’s Portable Antiquities Scheme finds database. One can do an advanced search, including only those objects with images, by date, type, find location, etc. While this only reflects UK finds, many “foreign” types of fibulae appear in the database, having arrived in Britain with army units, merchants, etc. A simple search for the term “brooch” with images brought back a staggering 24,679 records.

Small Roman Bronze Art and Artifacts

Among the most common Roman antiquities available on the legitimate market are small Roman
bronzes. Apart from bronze coins, these take a great diversity of forms:

* Utilitarian objects such as knife handles, simple brooches, keys and cosmetic applicators.
* Decorative items such as furniture attachments and jewelery.
* Religious items, including statuettes and votive objects.

Small bronzes are relatively common detector and field walking finds. The range of small Roman bronzes available on the Clio Ancient Art website offers a good sample. All these come from either UK metal detector finds that were declared to be “not treasure” under UK law and legally exported or from very old private collections predating the imposition of current laws governing antiquities export from some source countries.

The bronze handle pictured below, with its decoration and partially preserved iron folding blade, is somewhat atypical in that it is quite well preserved. Such objects would have been carried by soldiers, farmers and farm hands.

                   Link to this object: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i158.html

Pictured below is a Roman key ring. Keys were often made integral parts of rings to avoid their being lost. This example has been combined with part of a late Roman lock mechanism. Many examples of both types of object frequently appear on the market.

Link to this object: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i47.html

A surprising range of highly decorative small Roman bronzes are available on the market. Pictured below is a heavy, well preserved, though somewhat incomplete, dolphin. This served as either a handle or a hasp (part of the closure mechanism) from a chest or cabinet most likely made of wood.

Link to this object: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i105.html

A surprising amount of Roman jewelery was made from bronze, not precious metals. Pictured below is an assembled group of 3 Roman bronze jewelery items. In this context, the term “assembled” means the objects do not come from the same context. They are all Roman but vary in date and place of origin. This mix of copper alloy bead, inscribed finger ring and child’s bracelet with simplified snake head terminals offers a desirable cross section of Roman bronze jewelery.

Link to this Object: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i196.html

Among the most popular types of small Roman bronzes with serious collectors are statuettes of deities, both female and male. In addition to the “household god” or Lar, usually kept in a shrine and the center of the extended family cult, other specific deities were portrayed. The choice of deity was usually dictated by personal preference or a perceived need on the part of the devotee. Always popular was Eros, the god of love (sometimes called Cupid). The fine example shown below was found at Silchester, England.

Link to this object: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i252.html

Throughout the Roman world it was customary to follow older spiritual traditions, including the deposition of small votive objects at open air shrines, in springs or sources of running water and other sacred sites. These often represented body parts, in the hope of a cure or speedy recovery or as thanks for the same. The bronze foot wearing a sandal pictures below might at first appear to be broken away from a larger statuette, as is often the case but a small casting mark at its top shows that this was created as a complete object for votive purposes.

Link to this object:http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i440.html

Many more examples of small Roman bronzes may be viewed on our website, along with dozens of Roman antiquities in glass, stone and other materials, at these pages:

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c15_p1.html
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c16_p1.html
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c17_p1.html