| 79 A Roman 14.65 kg brass ingot with three stamp impressions, 1st century A.D. A monumental brass ingot in the shape of a „board“ with rounded corners. Height 151.8 cm. Width 14 cm. Depth 1 cm. One side smooth and left largely untreated during casting, slightly indented in the centre due to the loss of material when cooling. Three identical stamp impressions: C - PETRON - HERME hammered in the centre and approx. 20 cm and 22 cm from the upper and lower ends respectively. The inscription may probably be interpreted as C(aii) Petron(ii) Herme(tis), referring to the owner or the manufacturer of the ingot. The stamp clearly proves that the ingot dates from the Roman period. The other side of the surface is entirely covered with horizontal grooves running transversely to the longitudinal direction of the ingot. These grooves reproduce a pattern that was previously applied to the underside of the (clay?) mould. The slightly offset grooves present a harmonious and well-proportioned texture, despite the slight irregularity of the surface on this side, which gives the object the appearance of a positively „modern sculpture“. The ingot, which, on the one hand, is a highly interesting testament to Roman industry in technical terms, can, by the same token, also be considered an artefact of high aesthetic beauty. The ingot has already been thoroughly cleaned, presumably by the previous owner, thereby removing all oxides and appliqués, so that its original appearance can be seen today with its shiny metallic surface. A virtually identical piece, with roughly the same measurements and weight, was sold by Gorny and Mosch in Auction 235 in 2015, fetching 30,000 euros (lot 56). Consequently, this appears to be a companion piece to the first ingot, at that time considered unique. The few other documented brass ingots dating from Roman times may only be compared to a limited extent with these two pieces. The ingot sold by Gorny and Mosch was acknowledged from a scientific point of view in 2015 by P. Rothenhöfer in the journal Gephyra 12, pp. 231 - 237. Provenance: South German private collection (bequeathed) of an antique collector, exchanged by him from a private Rhenish collection in the 1980s. 328412 I - II € 25.000
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