Ancient Roman Bronze Pendant / amulet - 27 mm

Ancient Roman Bronze Pendant / Amulet

Culture / Period: Ancient Roman
Date / Period: 1st–2nd century A.D.
Material: Bronze
Dimensions: 27 mm
Condition: Good condition

No shipping outside the European Union. Due to complex export regulations concerning cultural goods, this item cannot be shipped outside the EU. Please ensure you have a delivery address within the European Union before placing a bid.

Provenance information:
Object Registration ID: 747

The current owner purchased the Ancient Roman Bronze Pendant / Amulet from an auction house in Schiedam, the Netherlands.

The previous owner, a private collector (N.N.) from the Netherlands, stated that the object had been in his collection since the 1990s.

According to the previous owner, the object had previously formed part of a private collection in the Netherlands since the 1990s.

No further information concerning the earlier ownership history of the object was available from the previous owner.

Background Information:
This small cast bronze pendant is designed with a large suspension loop above a circular bezel decorated with a worn relief motif. The open-sided construction suggests that it originally functioned as a small pendant or protective amulet, intended to be suspended from a necklace or attached to personal attire.

Personal amulets and pendants were widely worn throughout the Roman Empire by men, women, and children. They served as expressions of personal belief, good fortune, and divine protection, while some also reflected religious devotion or commemorated particular deities, symbols, or auspicious motifs. Over centuries of use and burial, the relief decoration on many such objects has often become softened by wear and corrosion, making precise identification difficult.

Bronze pendants of this type were produced by skilled metalworkers using established casting techniques and circulated widely across the Roman provinces. Similar examples have been recovered from settlements, villas, military sites, and religious contexts, illustrating the popularity of personal devotional and protective objects in everyday Roman life.

Dating to the 1st–2nd century A.D., this pendant belongs to the height of the Roman Imperial period, when jewellery and amulets formed an important part of personal adornment and religious practice. It provides a direct and tangible connection to the ancient world, where small objects of this kind accompanied their owners in daily life as symbols of protection, identity, and belief.