Live Auction 16270The Collector: English and European 18th and 19th Century Furniture, Ceramics, Silver & Works of Art
A ROMAN MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE
Lot 39 Property from the Collection of Robert and Ellen Gutenstein

A ROMAN MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE

CIRCA 1830

Closed23 October 2018

Estimate

USD 7,000–10,000

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A ROMAN MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE
CIRCA 1830
Decorated with a micromosaic plaque depicting The Doves of Pliny, marked to interior
3 ¾ in. (9.5 cm.) wide, 2 3/8 in. (6 cm.) wide

Acquired from John Jaffa Antiques, London.

Specialist note

The present micromosaic depicts the Doves of Pliny, or the Capitoline Doves. The popular motif is designed after a second-century BC floor mosaic discovered at Hardians Villa in 1737, now in the Capitoline museum. Pliny the Elder attributed to mosaic to Greek artist Sosus. Several examples of this subject matter are illustrated in Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel, Micromosaics Private Collections, 2016, figs. 2, 10, 35, 75, 97 122 and 138.