Featured Ancient ... but not a coin! Artifacts thread! Post 'em!

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by lordmarcovan, Dec 25, 2017.

  1. SeptimusT

    SeptimusT Well-Known Member

    Here's a recent acquisition I'm really proud of. It comes from another Cointalker. It is a Kushan-era Buddhist terracotta from modern day Pakistan. Although the features are quite eroded, based on the hairstyle and stylistic features, I think it depicts either a Bodhisattva or the Buddha himself. Pretty neat!

    Bodhi.png

    And this is an iron arrowhead from the same region, Hepthalite to Mongol period.

    Arrow.png
     
    robinjojo, DonnaML, Bob L. and 9 others like this.
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. otlichnik

    otlichnik Well-Known Member

    IMG_0296.JPG

    While most of my antiquities collection consists of Roman stuff, with a minor in Avar, I also have some medieval items.

    On top the top left are a pair of elbow cops from a suit of armour, German school, c.1580s. This pair was once in the Met collection and are pictured in both G.C. Stone's "A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in all Countries and All Times" and Viollet Le Duc's "Encyclopedie Medievale".

    Top middle is an elbow cop from the the early 16th c. It is an excavated find from Austria.

    Top right is an upper vambrace (arm armour) purchased about 20 years ago in London. It dates to the 15th century. Given it dating and the style of preservation, especially on the inside, I corresponded with "The Medieval Armour from Rhodes" author Walter Karcheski who agreed that it might be from the large part of the uncatalogued bit of that collection that was dispersed in the 19th century after restoration.

    On the left part of the shelf is a 16th century Ottoman mace purchased long ago in Sarajevo. On the right is a 13th century English mace head.

    SC
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2020
  4. Ryro

    Ryro Trying to remove supporter status

    I keep meaning to post this guy... And I don't think I got around to it.
    Here's my new"ish" Knucklebone. I wonder if it's pure lead or if, as I've read some are, actual sheep heels, though do to weight, would certainly be at least coated with metal?
    E53F185B-BE0D-4B64-A127-2D30BAA95B6C.jpeg
    Astragalus, Roman Lead Game "Knucklebones",
    Condition: Very Fine
    Weight: 20,95 gr
    Diameter: 22,60 mm Ex Ares
     
  5. otlichnik

    otlichnik Well-Known Member

    Sorry, my text and photo got separate. I moved the text up to join the photo. Can someone help me delete this entry??
     
  6. VD76

    VD76 Well-Known Member

    Coptic papyrus fragment with writing .
    Ex. Lodge Antiquities
    8293B6FF-CFE6-4560-BD67-965CB13DB6F6.jpeg
     
  7. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    For those interested in Roman lamps -- or anything Roman for that matter -- check out the Roman House at Johns Hopkins' website.
     
    7Calbrey, VD76 and PlanoSteve like this.
  8. PlanoSteve

    PlanoSteve Well-Known Member

    That is an excellent site! Great pics & narratives!
     
    Roman Collector likes this.
  9. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    I've been collecting Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities since the early 1980s to the extent my budget permits -- I've never spent more than $2,500 on any single artifact. I thought I'd share photos of three of my favorites, all of them
    small black-figure Attic lekythoi (vases used for oil) dating from the end of the 6th century BCE. Here are links to descriptions and photos of two of the three, which I bought last year:

    http://www.hixenbaugh.net/gallery/detail.cfm?itemnum=6874 [Sorry, this link is apparently defunct.)

    http://www.hixenbaugh.net/gallery/detail.cfm?itemnum=7412

    (I received a substantial discount for buying the two together.)

    And here are some photos showing how I have these lekythoi displayed in a glass bell jar in my apartment, together with a third Attic lekythos with the same shape from the same period (showing warriors fighting, with two hounds on the shoulder as opposed to a hound and hare) that I purchased in 1986 from Royal Athena. That one and the newer one showing a horseman with two attendants in front and one behind, and a hound and hare on the shoulder, both belong to the so-called "Little Lion" class of lekythoi (because there were often small lions displayed on the shoulder). There are a number of similar examples in the Beazley database of Greek vases in the Little Lion Class and the Hound and Hare Group, including one at the British Museum with an almost identical design to the one I have, albeit excavated in an ancient cemetery in Rhodes in the 1860s rather than in Sicily in the 1940s. All of these types of lekythoi were made for export in the pottery district of Athens (the Kerameikos district), and most have been found in graves in ancient cemeteries, where they served a votive purpose.

    Lekythoi 1.jpg
    Lekythoi 3.jpg
    Lekythoi 4.jpg
    Lekythoi 5.jpg
    Lekythoi 6.jpg
    Lekythoi 7.jpg
    Lekythoi 9.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2020
    seth77, longshot, PeteB and 18 others like this.
  10. happy_collector

    happy_collector Well-Known Member

    Nice Attic lekythoi, Donna. I like the one showing warriors fighting.
     
    DonnaML likes this.
  11. Bob L.

    Bob L. Well-Known Member

    AE Hilt
    Northwestern Iran
    1200-800 BC
    11.1cm (4.4”)
    Cf. Moorey (Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum), plate 7, #58, 60 (for similar pommel)
    Cf. Mahboubian (Art of Ancient Iran), 392 and 397a (for similar pommel)

    Description:
    Double disk pommel, cylindrical grip, iron core, bronze exterior, incised with decorative patterns

    AE_Hilt_1_ct.jpg


    AE Hilt
    Northwestern Iran
    1200-800 BC
    24.8cm x 7.9cm (9.75” x 3.125”)
    Cf. Moorey (Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum), Pl. 8, Fig. 63 (also illustrated on page 82)
    Ex- private East Coast, USA collection

    Description:
    Distinctive Luristani bifurcated “double-ear” pommel, square cross-section through grip, with two lattice-patterned bands enclosing a horizontally-oriented linear band which comprise the hand guard; oxidized remnants of the original iron blade are still visible below the guard

    AE_Hilt_2 d_ct.jpg
     
  12. Nathan401

    Nathan401 Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

  13. Nathan401

    Nathan401 Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

    This is a fairly large specimen. It probably weighs close to 30lbs 0F43B72E-050F-424C-82EB-64D9D0B26F2E.jpeg
     
    Theodosius, Ryro, Alegandron and 3 others like this.
  14. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    Which reminds me. Speaking of animals, here are some photos of my small ancient Roman bronze eagle, which is approximately 45 mm. high:

    Roman Bronze Eagle, Medusa 3.jpg

    Roman Bronze Eagle, Medusa 4.jpg
    Roman Bronze Eagle, Medusa 2.jpg

    Roman Bronze Eagle, Medusa 6.jpg

    Roman Bronze Eagle, Medusa 5.jpg
     
  15. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    They're admittedly not as majestic as the eagle I just posted, but here are two more birds, a rooster and a swan, as depicted on a Corinthian globular aryballos I have dating to the late 7th or early 6th century BCE. It's about 2.5" high.

    Corinthian globular aryballos Image 2.jpg

    Corinthian globular aryballos Image 3.jpg

    Corinthian globular aryballos Image 6.jpg

    Corinthian globular aryballos Image 7.jpg
     
    seth77, Salaethus, Theodosius and 8 others like this.
  16. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    DonnaML likes this.
  17. My Lekythos is also attributed to the "Little Lion Class." Depicted with a lion on top. I would venture to guess that our hoplites were painted by the same person.
    SIDE1.png SIDE2.png
    372737_3_1539944296.jpg
    Athens Lekythos & tetradrachmae.jpg
     
    seth77, PeteB, Theodosius and 7 others like this.
  18. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    A beautiful lekythos! The figures are definitely similar (see the attached closeup of mine), but they're not identical -- your guy's lower legs are skinnier, for one thing! -- and of course the artists in Athens at the time, all of whom probably worked in the same pottery district, were following current artistic conventions. So it's hard to know for sure.

    Photo 5 Attic Black-Figurre Lekythos - Hixenbaugh - Hound & Hare, soldier departing.jpg
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2020
    seth77, Theodosius, 7Calbrey and 3 others like this.
  19. An anniversary present for my wife:
    Roman bronze arm bracelet circa 400 A.D. Rabbit heads facing on each end. Green patina.
    Bronze arm bracelet.jpg
    Brpmze Arm Bracelet.jpg
     
  20. Numisnewbiest

    Numisnewbiest Well-Known Member

    I bought this as a bronze Roman stylus, but now I've seen a listing for a Roman "medical instrument" that looks almost exactly like this, so now I'm wondering: do I have a stylus, or a medical instrument?

    il_fullxfull.2137256522_qxom.jpg
     
    Alegandron, Ryro, Spaniard and 3 others like this.
  21. I'm leaning toward hair pin.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page