Tuesday, August 27, 2013

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: 2nd-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 

 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

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.
Image
                                                                                                                                                                                        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.

Image

                                         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.

Image
                                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.

Image

 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.

Image

 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.

Image

 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.

Monday, August 19, 2013

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.

Image
                   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.

Image

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.

Image
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.


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.

Image

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



Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Donated to the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC




Today our Trust for Ancient Art gifted this superb 14th Century English glazed ceramic floor tile to the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina. It fills a large gap in their collections of English ceramics and ceramic history in general.

 Our Trust for Ancient Art has donated over 40 examples of ancient Egyptian, Greek & Roman art to museums and universities. Help us continue this important work: http://igg.me/at/Ancient-Art-Education-for-All/x/4074220
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99038255@N06/sets/72157635035350885/

This link will take you to a gallery of antiquities spanning thousands of years and in all types of materials that our Trust for Ancient Art has gifted to museums and university collections in the US since 2010. To keep this important work going and learn more about our crowd funding campaign for the Trust go to: http://igg.me/at/Ancient-Art-Education-for-All/x/4074220



Iron Age Cypriot Terracotta Female Figurine, one of dozens of antiquities gifted by our Trust for Ancient Art to museums and universities since 2010.


Trust for Ancient Art Crowdfunding Campaign Video 1

  
Ancient Art Trust Video 1


This is our first video for the Ancient Art Trust and its Crowdfunding Campaign on Indiegogo. We're at 17.5% of our crowd funding goal! 45 days to go. Donations begin at $30. Perks for all donors! Please watch the vid and visit the Trust's page at: http://igg.me/at/Ancient-Art-Education-for-All/x/4074220
I'm thrilled to announce that in just its first 24 hours the Trust raised $350 of its $2,000 goal - that's 17.5%!!! We have 43 days yet to go and will keep you updated.

Our Trust for Ancient Art has donated over 40 examples of ancient Egyptian, Greek & Roman art to museums and universities. Help us continue this important work

If you haven't yet visited the Trust's page on Indiegogo, please do and consider making a modest contribution. Even if you cannot contribute, please share this link with others via e-mail or social networking - http://igg.me/at/Ancient-Art-Education-for-All/x/4074220

We've selected this superb late 2nd Intermediate Period Egyptian lead funerary falcon as the symbol of our Crowdfunding Campaign on Indiegogo.