Sale: CNG 72, Lot: 2905. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 14 June 2006.  Sold For $925. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

[Bronze objects] ROMAN. Bronze, enamel and iron fittings for a horse cart. Circa 3rd-4th century AD. A collection of Thracian artifacts that comprise part of the fittings of a burial cart. Bronze and enamel decorative roundels, three with enamel decorative inserts, the largest 14cm in diameter, the smallest 6cm // Three other enamel inserts for different roundels // Rein guides, mounts, buckles, rings, studs, spools and other furniture of the cart // Plus an iron horse bit. 17cm across. Good condition, various patinas on the bronze items, the enamels showing damage, the iron bit well preserved. Thirty-seven (37) separate pieces to the collection. Scarce and unusual.

Cart burials are known for many northern cultures, from the Asiatic steppes to the shores of Gaul. The dead would be interred with a cart containing all the goods he would need for the afterlife, often accompanied by his horse. The enamel decorative pieces suggest a rather late date in this tradition, at the end of the classical world. The fact that no precious objects are associated with it and that the largest pieces of bronze (the axle bearings) are not present would point to a burial that was partially looted at an earlier time, leaving only the smaller fittings intact. Nonetheless, an historically important assemblage of ancient horse furniture.