Roman Silver Athlete's Strigil and Balsamarium. 1st-2nd century AD. A silver toilet set comprising: a strigil with curved C-section blade and tapering rectangular-section handle, with rectangular piercing at the terminal for suspension, a silver shell ornament applied to the junction between blade and handle on the reverse; a balsamarium or aryballos, with squat spherical body, collared shoulder, convex neck, everted rim and flared foot, with two comic theatre masks applied to the body, with loops to accept a handle; the masks with detailing to the faces and hair; the body with a concentric band of inlaid floral decoration; a partial handle with collars and decorative elements.See The British Museum, museum number 1868,0105.46, for a comparable toilet set; see The Metropolitan Museum, accession number 61.88, for a comparable silver strigil; see Roberts, P., Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, London, 2013, for discussion.323 grams total, 6.1-19.6cm (2 1/4 - 7 3/4"). From the collection of a Surrey gentleman; acquired 1970-1980; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no. 10706-174980.Before the introduction of fat-based soaps in the late Empire, the usual method of cleansing by athletes, as well as bathers of both sexes, was a mixture of low grade olive oil, and a pumice. The oil was applied to the body and then scraped off by means of the long, scoop-like scraper, known as a strigil. A common form of public benefaction was money for a free distribution of such oil. The physical well-being of the gladiator was of the utmost importance so that they could perform at the games; vast sums of money were spent by the owners of gladiatorial schools on the training and upkeep of the athletes, and this would have included regular bathing, exercise and massage. [3]