AN ANCIENT BRITISH CELTIC RED SANDSTONE HEAD 1ST CENTURY BC-...

Estimate

£800 - £1,200

AN ANCIENT BRITISH CELTIC RED SANDSTONE HEAD 1ST CENTURY BC-1ST CENTURY AD Of unusual shape with a long narrow face striking deeply cut truncated eyes and parted lips two gashes to the nose, modern display base head 18cm high, 9cm wide, 13.5cm deep Provenance: Reputedly found near Hadrian's WallEx Private English collection acquired from Chris Rudd Antiquities 1998Ex Private London collectionIn the late Iron Age Yorkshire was the terrain of a powerful hegemony of Celtic tribes known as the 'Brigantes' or 'the High Ones' worshippers of the great pan Celtic goddess Brigantia who later morphed into the popular Christian Saint Brigid. The Brigantes were wild and war-like and as headhunters, were feared by the Romans who were garrisoned in the forts along Hadrian's Wall. The Romans tried to ban Druidism as they distrusted the influence, both spiritual and political, of the Celtic priests, but were mostly unsuccessful. Headhunting and human sacrifice were prohibited, but also continued amongst a Celtic populace resentful of Roman interference. For the Celts, eyes were an important feature, and they were often emphasised in their sculpture to indicate divinity. This severed head simply fashioned from sandstone has a strange and disconcerting power of its own.