Lot 906
Important Inscribed Roman Bronze Cavalry Parade Tondo, for a War Shield. Eastern Roman Empire, c. late 1st - 2nd century. The bronze sheet worked with a high relief facing head of a plumpish woman, her hair arranged into high corkscrews (a Celticised Medusa?), with a ornate border of arabesques around, the fields with dot-punched texturing, and pierced four times for attachment. Towards the edge, a dot-punched inscription: "GFELICIANA VALMARCVS." With negligible museum grade patch on the reverse towards the edge, piece exceptionally preserved with handsome dark green and brown patina. Diameter: 9-5/8". Rare!
Estimated Value $13,500 - 18,500.
Axel Guttmann Museum Collection, Germany. Published: M. Junkelmann, "Romishe Helme: Sammlung Axel Guttmann," VIII, Mainz, 2000, p. 203, pls. 112 and XXIV (AG 808), discussing the possible ownership inscription to be read as: "Aulus Val…. Marcus [serving in the unit of] Gaius Felic…. Ian…." A rare central section of a shield comparable to the styles of Mask Helmets from Silistra (a Roman fortress town established in what is now northern Bulgaria), in the Donau region.
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| Realized $16,100 |
