An Antwerp Renaissance silver bowl with Roman coins Oblong dish with a smooth raised rim on a waisted basal ring. The centre of the well decorated with a Neoclassical medallion with a bust of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius (138 - 161 A.D.) in a fluted surround. The surface with embossed acanthus motifs alternating with 14 ancient Roman coins dating from between circa 100 B.C. To 160 A.D. In chronological order beginning with a denarius with a portrait of Julius Caesar (100 B.C. - 44 A.D.) followed by denarii from the reigns of emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otto, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian (117 - 138 A.D.). Certificate Includes an analysis carried out by the Eidgenössischen Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt in Duebendorf dated 13th January 2013. Coins from the Roman imperial period were, by their very nature, exceptionally rare in the 16th century and were particularly sought after by collectors. The only other Belgian work comparable to this piece is a tazza with Liège marks from circa 1564 in the Musée Curtius in Liège (inv. no. 62/452). H 5.5, W 10.8, L 23 cm, weight 316 g. Marks of Antwerp, 1595/96. For this maker's mark and year letter cf. cat. Edelsmedkunst in Belgie, Profaan Zilver XVIde - XVIIde - XVIIIde Eeuw, Tielt 1988, no. 48. For a comparison piece in the Musée Curtius cf. cat. L'Orfèvrerie Civile Ancienne du Pays de Liège, Liege 1991, p. 74.