TimeLine Auctions

Auction 153  –  5 - 9 September 2023

TimeLine Auctions, Auction 153

Greek, Roman, Egyptian & Other Antiquities, Natural History & Coins

Part 1: Tu, 05.09.2023, from 1:00 PM CEST
Part 2: We, 06.09.2023, from 1:00 PM CEST
Part 3: Th, 07.09.2023, from 1:00 PM CEST
Part 4: Fr, 08.09.2023, from 1:00 PM CEST
Part 5: Sa, 09.09.2023, from 1:00 PM CEST
The auction is closed.
Please note: Lots not collected by the seventh working day following the Date of Sale will be moved to storage at a transfer cost of £20 plus VAT per Lot and storage charges will thereafter be applied at the rate of £1.90 plus VAT per Lot per day until collected.

Description

Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Farmer and Oxen
1st-2nd century A.D.. The oval intaglio engraved with a man driving a pair of oxen with plough to left, a detailed tree with branches in the background, ground line under the oxen. Cf. no.633 of the Lost Gems of the Malborough collection, for a similar scene, in Boardman, J., The Malborough Gems. Formerly at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, Oxford, 2009; cf. also Various, Catalogue of the Malborough Gems, being a collection of Works in Cameo and Intaglio formed by George, Third Duke of Malborough, Oxford, 1875, no.633.
0.38 grams, 10 mm (3/8 in.).
Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s.Important North West London collection. The gem could refer to the Augustan program of restoration of peace and security in the empire, after the agitated period of civil wars, with the possibility for men to return peacefully to their lands in a now peaceful empire. However, we cannot exclude that the image also refers to the well-known episode of Greek mythology, when Odysseus, to escape the call to arms in Troy, feigned madness by ploughing the fields without interruption, until he was unmasked by Palamedes, cousin of Agamemnon, who placed Odysseus' infant son Telemachus in front of the plough, forcing Odysseus to stop and reveal feigned insanity.

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Bidding

Price realized 600 GBP
Starting price 600 GBP
Estimate 600 GBP
The auction is closed.
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