From the collection of a Dutch diplomat who served in North Africa between 1970 and 1974 comes a fine selection of Terra Chiara and Terra Sigillata oil lamps, along with several portrait cups. The collection of his father also includes two remarkable North African limestone funerary stelae from El Djem, Tunisia.
One of these stelae is a rare, completely preserved example depicting a ‘Toga Man’, dating from the 2nd–3rd century AD (lot 4527). The stele features several richly decorated relief scenes. At its centre stands a man adorned with jewellery and a crescent-shaped lunula, an amulet believed to offer protection against the evil eye. Above him, the mythical birth of Dionysus from Zeus’s thigh is depicted, while the pediment shows a reclining woman against an acanthus leaf. A bull can also be seen in the lower section.
Combining mythological imagery, symbolism and exquisite detail, this stele offers a fascinating insight into the religious and artistic world of Roman North Africa.