Ivory scent bottle with two carved portraits: Emperor Costantine and his wife Fausta Flavia Maxima

Ivory bottle with rich carved decoration of foliage and acorns, partially eroded by time. On the front the profile of a man with a laurel wreath and on the back the profile of a woman with bare breasts. From the iconography on the coins one can recognize the portraits of the emperor Constantine and his wife Flavia Maxima. Apparently, the depiction of these characters, the shape and style of the carving date this scent bottle around the 4th century, most likely before 326. The reason for this dating is due to the fact that the effigy of Fausta, wife of the emperor Constantine, appears. Accused of adultery, she was killed, probably by order of her husband, in 326 and suffered the so-called “damnatio memoriae” that is the cancellation of all her portraits, statues, memories so that she could be erased from history. It is, therefore, highly unlikely that it was depicted after that date. The silver cap and base were replaced later in time. An ivory expert commented that this material, to reach the level of patina and wear of this bottle, must have been exposed to light, smoke, grease and manipulation for an extremely long time, not for a few centuries.