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
Clio Ancient Art and Antiquities seeks to make antiquities and artifacts of the Mediterranean world accessible to a wide audience while offering print and electronic resources to both the novice and experienced collector of ancient art. With 25 years experience collecting and extensive travel in the Mediterranean world, owner Chris Maupin has consulted on ancient art for museums and private collectors.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Labor Day Sale!
Labels:
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Thursday, August 29, 2013
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
Labels:
ancient,
antiquities,
antiquity,
archaeology,
art,
artifacts,
brooch,
coins,
culture,
fibula,
heritage,
history,
museum,
numismatics,
Roman,
Roman Empire,
Rome
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):
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
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
Labels:
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antiquities,
antiquity,
archaeology,
art,
artifacts,
coins,
culture,
enamel,
England,
heritage,
history,
museum,
numismatics,
Roman,
Roman Empire,
Rome
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Labels:
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antiquities,
antiquity,
archaeology,
art,
artifacts,
brooch,
Buttons,
collecting,
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England,
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heritage,
history,
London,
Medieval,
Migration Period,
museum,
Roman,
Roman Empire
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Labels:
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Ancient Art Trust,
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antiquity,
archaeology,
art,
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Chris Maupin,
collecting,
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England,
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history,
Medieval,
Mint Museum of Art,
museum,
Trust for Ancient Art
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
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. |
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