Live Auction 1186The Collection of Professor Sir Albert Richardson, P.R.A.
MITHRAS PIECES
Lot 508

MITHRAS PIECES

Closed19 September 2013

Price Realised

GBP 1,000

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MITHRAS PIECES
A group of ten Roman plain ware pottery vessels including a lamp, some fragmentary, circa 3rd-4th Century A.D.; two Roman red ware fragments, circa 2nd-3rd Century A.D.; a Roman glass bottle, circa 2nd-4th Century A.D.
7 in. (18 cm.) high max

Almost certainly Temple of Mithras, London.
Almost certainly Professor William Francis Grimes (1905-1988) by whom given to Professor Sir Albert Richardson, P.R.A. in 1954.

Specialist note

The Temple of Mithras is a Roman temple whose ruins were discovered in Walbrook, a street in the City of London, during rebuilding work in 1954. The site was excavated under the guidance of William Francis Grimes, director of the Museum of London in 1954. The temple was built in the mid-3rd century and most probably initially dedicated to Mithras, confirmed by the finding of a head of Mithras himself recognizable from his Phrygian cap. Later, in the early 4th century, the temple was rededicated to Bacchus.