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Lot 224

1 May 2013, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

£7,000 - £9,000

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A Roman gold bracelet
Egypt, circa 2nd-3rd Century A.D.
Composed of three substantial solid gold wires twisted into a spiral, tapering at each end to a single wire, overlapping and coiling around the other end of the bracelet for sizing, one partially unwound, 3in (7.7cm) diam; weight 74 grams

Footnotes

Provenance:
UK private collection, acquired from Faustus Fine Art, London, Christmas catalogue 1994, item no. 2.

Literature:
Overlap twist bracelets were in use by the end of the Hellenistic period and continued to be worn throughout the Roman period. They are perhaps best represented from Egypt, but are known throughout the empire. The sturdier examples of this type of construction seem mainly to date to the 2nd or 3rd Century A.D. Representations show that they were generally worn with the overlapped part on the upper side of the wrist and Egyptian funerary representations show them worn in pairs with up to three on each wrist. Cf. S. Walker & M. Bierbrier, Ancient Faces, Mummy Portraits from Ancient Egypt, London, 1997, pp. 175-6, no. 219.

Additional information

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