Details

LOT 0704

Roman Bronze Apex Mount with Felines

CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

2 1/8 - 2 5/8 in. (78.2 grams total, 53-67 mm).

Two military mounts, each roughly triangular with a curved underside; the smaller with a feline modelled in the round at the narrow end; the larger with a similar animal amf comma-leaf detailing at the wider end. [2]

Provenance

Found Hampshire, UK.

Literature

See Bishop, M.C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman Military Equipment From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome, London, 1993, for discussion.

Footnotes

The comma-leaf ornament on the larger piece is indicative of Roman military metalwork around the time of the conquest of Gaul (circa 55 B.C.), after which large numbers of local troops were recruited into the Roman army. Gallic ornaments of La Tène style influenced the equipment of the legions formed at this time.