Ancient Celtiberian (Celtic) or Roman bronze leaves (one is a brooch), likely from the Iberian Peninsula; from an old collection

$94.99

Two ancient (likely) Celtic bronze artifacts from an old Celtiberian collection we purchased at auction in Europe. Some of the items were post-Celtiberian Roman though, so these could also be Roman, but most were older. The smaller leaf is likely from the edge of a pot, or similar, and was broken off at the stem. The larger leaf is likely a brooch or pin, as the back still has two stubs, where it was to connect.

The smaller leaf is approximately 27 x 23 x 3 mm. The larger leaf is approximately 39 x 22 x 3 mm.

Wikipedia tells us the Celtiberians "were a group of Celts and Celticized peoples inhabiting an area in the central-northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries of the BC. They were explicitly mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors (e.g. Strabo)."

Provenance -
Someone wrote, what appears to say "Libia" on the back of the smaller leaf. This likely coincides with the Roman Libia, located near Herramelluri, La Rioja in Spain. The larger leaf has "Iruna" written on it. This is likely the Iruna-Veleia Roman town, near Villodas, Alava, Spain.

We bought a collection of artifacts at auction in Switzerland (La Galerie Numismatique, September 28th, 2024); we are researching each object and offering them for sale individually. You can see the entire collection in the pictures we posted.

In the course of our investigation, we found that the artifacts had many names of places in the Celtiberian region written on them, for example "Salienca". Also, the collection's brooch design was unique to the Celtiberians (Google search "Celtiberian Fibula" to see similar examples). We've come to the conclusion that the collection is specific to the Celtiberian era/region.

Condition -

The bronze has a patina of dark green. The larger leaf has a tarnished sheen of silver color, leading me to believe that, when in use, the leaf would have appeared silver. All clasp functionality is missing from the back of the larger leaf. Both leaves have traces of glue from where they were glued into the collection. Both leaves have ink markings on the back with place names, and the smaller leaf has LIB scratched into the back.

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