MID 3RD CENTURY A.D.

细节

A ROMAN NORTH AFRICAN RED-SLIP WARE FLASK
MID 3RD CENTURY A.D.
The piriform body with applied decoration including four large palm fronds, three small bunches of grapes around the rim, a wreath with five plumes and two venatores, one fighting a bull, the other a bear, and a tabella ansata (handled writing tablet) reading PENTASI NIKA
6½ in. (16.5 cm.) high

来源

Australian private collection; acquired from Charles Ede Ltd., London, 1993.

注意事项

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

拍品专文

Wild beast shows (venationes) were popular in Roman North Africa. Each show was staged by an association (sodalitas), which had a group of wild animals and a team of venatores to fight them. The symbol of the wreath was a professional badge, the number of plumes and the attributes identifying each association.

cf. R. Jackson (ed.), Gladiators and Caesars, The British Museum, London, 2000, p. 70, no. 74., for a flask with a gladiatorial decoration and a similar inscription reading "Taurisc[us] nika (may Tauriscus win)."