A ROMAN SILVER VASE

CIRCA MID 4TH CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN SILVER VASE
circa mid 4th century a.d.
The ovoid body on a splaying foot, with a slender neck flaring to the vertical, flat-topped rim, decorated with overlapping acanthus leaves on the neck below a beaded band, the body with acanthus leaves at the base with scrolling above terminating in various leaf-forms and floral rosettes, stylized guilloche on the foot, and an elaborate rosette on the concave base
3¼ in. (8.25 cm.) high

Provenance

Antiquities, Christie's New York, 14 June 1996, lot 53.

Lot Essay

The shape and decoration of this vase is closely paralleled by a silver jug from a hoard found in 1975 at Water Newton, Huntingdonshire, the Roman town of Durobrivae. This treasure is some of the earliest known Christian silver from any site in the Roman Empire. See no. 26 in Kent and Painter, Wealth of the Roman World, A.D. 300-700.