LOT 0823

Large Roman Tinned Bronze Patera

1ST CENTURY A.D.

13 in. (903 grams, 33 cm wide).

With a deep bowl and flat-section handle with integral loop; shallow concentric grooves around the exterior of the neck, rolled rim, concentric rings to the underside; finished on a lathe; cracked and split.

Acquired in Europe before 1993.
Private collection, Europe.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11788-206494.

Cf. The British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme, record id. GLO-048BB1, for a very similar example and additional information; Tassinari, S., La Vaisselle de Bronze, Romaine et Provinciale, au Musée des Antiquités Nationales, XXIXe supplément de Gallia, Paris, 1975, items 3, 5, 9, for similar types.

In contrast to their elaborate counterparts, paterae such as this were likely carried as part of the standard kit of Roman soldiers, used as a general cooking and eating utensil. The regular heap up (sarcina) of the legionaries is well represented on the reliefs of Trajan's column. It was composed of a T stake (furca), to which a linen bag (sacculus) was hung, as well as the leather haversack for 15-20 days supplies (trinum nundinum) and personal effects, a pot (ollula), a cup (patera), and a basket for work on the fields.