CONSULTING SERVICES: AUTHENTICATING AND IDENTIFYING ANTIQUITIES

 

Education, authentication and identification are the key elements in building a collection of ancient art. We at Clio Ancient Art are often contacted by private owners, art museums and estate executors wishing to identify objects and learn if the they are genuine ancient artifacts, reproductions, fakes, forgeries, or tourist trinkets. As a service to antiquities collectors, owners and the museum community, Clio Ancient Art provides authentication and identification services. Click here to learn more about this service: http://www.clioancientart.com/id23.html.

Educating oneself is the key to avoiding disappointment upon learning that an “antiquity” one may have purchased is not ancient or genuine, as well as avoiding ethical or legal complications associated with ownership of an antiquity with questionable provenance. Our own links page — http://www.clioancientart.com/id15.html — is a good starting point in building a knowledge base about antiquities and ancient art.

New Items, A Sale and Much More for January

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i516.html

 Hello Clio Customers, Friends and Fans,

Thank you for helping make 2013 another successful year for Clio Ancient Art and the Trust for Ancient Art. I hope 2014 proves to be a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year for you.

I'd like to start off by sharing a few new offerings on our website:

* A 3rd Century Roman mold-blown glass jar - http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i516.html

* A 1st-2nd Century Roman glass bottle - http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i518.html

* A Roman Bronze Claw Foot - http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i517.html

We're having a SALE, ending January 20, on the following specific categories of items --

* Cypriot Antiquities Section: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c1_p1.html 15% OFF

* Byzantine, European, Medieval and Islamic Antiquities Section: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c26_p1.html AND http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c21_p1.html 15% OFF

Please note coins are not included in this sale.

Clio added many very affordable antiquities and ancient coins leading up to the holidays and despite the holiday sales rush many are still available. Didn't get what you really wanted for Christmas? Treat yourself to something from the website; prices range from $25 to $2,500 - http://www.clioancientart.com/.

Now for a very important invitation: Clio has a simple ONLINE SURVEY WAITING FOR YOU. It's just 9 questions, anonymous, mostly point and click, and only takes 2 or 3 minutes to complete. To help Clio better serve you, please click here to participate in our survey -- http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/chris-CB3/clio-2014-new-year-survey/

Clio received some positive press in the Wilmington, NC Business Journal recently. A copy of that article is attached. Here a link to the article - http://www.wilmingtonbiz.com/retail/2014/01/03/clio_debuts_in_wilmington/11225

Our Trust for Ancient Art ended the year by facilitating transfer of a fine collection of Roman glass from a donor in Atlanta to the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, NC. Here's an article from our Wordpress Blog about this - http://clioantiquities.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/clios-trust-for-ancient-art-facilitates-gift-of-ancient-glass-to-mint-museum-of-art/

As always, thanks for viewing our website.

Best wishes,

Chris M. Maupin
Clio Ancient Art and Antiquities
Chris Maupin Trust for Ancient Art
PO Box 7714
Wilmington, NC 28406
Phone: 704-293-3411
Web: http://www.clioancientart.com/

Roman Bronze Brooches Revisited: Zoomorphic Types

 

In a blog post dated August 20 of last year we reviewed some examples of Roman bronze fibulae (brooches), a ubiquitous find both in controlled excavations and by metal detectorists. In this post we’d like to elaborate on the topic, focusing on zoomorphic brooch types.

The example pictured above, a horse brooch dating to the 1st to 3rd Centuries AD, while not unknown, is a very uncommon type. It has been modeled in the round rather than as a flat plate with pin on the reverse. For more details, it may be viewed here: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i475.html

 Far more typical of Roman brooches depicting mammals is the example above of a so-called “horse and rider” brooch. As is frequently the case, the schematically rendered rider has broken away but the Celtic style horse is well defined and shows a strong sense of movement. This type, dating to the 3rd or 4th Century, may have been closely associated with the Roman army. The bronze has been tinned to resemble silver. For more details on this example, go here: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i474.html

In addition to mammals (rabbits or hares, dogs, horses, etc.), birds were a popular source of inspiration for Roman craftsmen involved in making brooches. The superb example above, depicting a duck in resting posture with wings folded back, illustrates the use of enamel decoration on Roman brooches. In this case, the wings have a piriform cell containing blue enamel surrounded by red with another stretch of blue enamel around that. In addition, the animal itself is depicted in a highly naturalistic way; even the duck’s eye has been indicated with a tiny point of incision. For more on this example, go here: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i489.html

An uncommon type of bird brooch, dating to the 2nd or 3rd Century AD, is illustrated above. This example appears to depict a dove or small water bird. Unusually for zoomorphic brooches, it’s original pin and coil are intact. Unlike many zoomorphic types that were also popular on the European continent, this specific type appears to be unique to Roman Britain. More about this example here: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i476.html

For many more examples of brooches, mainly Roman, of many different types, visit the “Ancient Jewelry and Personal Adornment” section of our website at: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c19_p1.html

All the brooches presented above are individual UK metal detector finds, declared not treasure and legally exported.

For further study, we recommend the following sources:

Roman Brooches in Britain, a Technological and Typological Study Based on the Richborough Collection, The Society of Antiquaries of London, 2004

AND

A Visual Catalogue of Richard Hattat’s Ancient Brooches, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2007

It's Always Nice to Get Positive Press Coverage...

http://www.wilmingtonbiz.com/retail/2014/01/03/clio_debuts_in_wilmington/11225

Amateur speleologists in Rome are mapping the city's network of 11 ancient aqueducts for the first time in modern history.

http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-roman-aqueducts-20140101,0,2669673.story#axzz2pLPIhQw5

Trust for Ancient Art Facilitates Gift of Ancient Glass to Mint Museum of Art

We are pleased to announce that our Trust for Ancient Art has rounded out the year by facilitating the donation of a collection of ancient Roman glass from an anonymous Atlanta collector, acquired many years ago in Israel, to the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mint had previously benefited from the Trust’s donation of a superb Medieval English encaustic glazed floor tile. A few images of the Roman glass vessels now at the Mint Museum are included here.

Vatican to Open Roman Cemetary to Public

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25421841