Lot 145
145
A RARE ROMAN BRONZE MARRIAGE RING WITH PAINTED BEZEL
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more BRONZE AGE AND CLASSICAL VARIOUS PROPERTIES
A RARE ROMAN BRONZE MARRIAGE RING WITH PAINTED BEZEL

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details
A RARE ROMAN BRONZE MARRIAGE RING WITH PAINTED BEZEL
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
The oval bezel inset with rock crystal, beneath are the painted portrait busts of a young couple, the man with a short beard and curly hair, his wife fair skinned, with red painted lips, her hair worn back, the bronze hoop with slight encrustation
Bezel: ½ in. (1.3 cm.) long
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

As today, rings were used during the Roman period as symbols of a betrothal or marriage. These would depict more commonly the motif of clasped right hands (dextrarum iunctio), but also the busts of a man and woman seen as a representation of the betrothed couple. This is found on rings with repoussé and engraved bezels, cf. C. Johns, The Jewellery of Roman Britain, London, 1996, pp. 62-65. The above ring is a rare painted example of that type. Roman painted portraits are known from the wall paintings of Pompeii, such as the portrait of Paquius Proculus and his wife from Pompeii, cf. S. de Caro, The National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Naples, 1996, p. 189 and p. 269 for a fine male portrait on glass.

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