Roman Bronze Cockerel Collection

For the deposition of ashes (absent), with bulbous body, everted rim and discoid foot, a stylised human face to the upper body expressed with three circular holes for the eyes and mouth, pinched nose in high-relief and raised eyebrows; repaired. 5.13 kg, 34 cm wide



Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.

Cremation was the usual burial practice in early Roman Britain and whilst it was common for larger ceramic or glass domestic vessels to be reused as cinerary urns, this particular type was created specifically for the purpose and was strongly associated with military contexts in Britain. After death, an individual would have been cremated on a pyre, the ashes gathered once the fire had gone out, and finally placed into the pot. The pot may then have been placed into a small 'tile tomb' buried beneath the ground. The face clearly has symbolic meaning; it may represent the deceased or a god, or may have served an apotropaic function, intended to ward-off evil spirits. The exact meaning of the face would have been clearer when the vessel was in situ alongside other associated burial goods. Although there are similarities in style across the known sample of Roman face pots, each is unique in some way. Face pot finds are concentrated in Colchester in Britain, suggesting a military association, since Camulodunum, 'The 'Fortress of the War God Camulos', was the capital of Roman Britain and Britain's first city. A more robust military connection was established by the archaeologist Gillian Braithwaite, whose survey of thousands of face pot sherds demonstrated that their occurrence spread rapidly though the Roman Empire, from the Black Sea, to Spain, the Mediterranean and Scotland. Braithwaite was able to link the pots to the Roman army and thus explain this phenomenon; as the units moved from province to province, face pots occurred in that region for the first time. The frequency of complete face pots suggests their use as cremation urns.

Composed of an oval-shaped body, possibly sodalite, displaying an intaglio scorpion; accompanied by a museum-quality impression. 0.82 grams, 15 mm



Acquired on the European art market in the late 1960s-early 1970s.

Displaying the face of a bearded god, possibly Cernunnos or Pan, with curly hair and two horns in the shape of phallus; suspension ring to the top. 25.6 grams, 45 mm



Acquired in the 1990s. Ex property of a UK gentleman.

The head displays typical features associated with Romano-Celtic art, such as the lentoid eyes and the schematic rendering of the hair and beard. The head could be that of Pan, god of the wild countryside and of fertility in nature, thus making the phalli-shaped horns appropriate. It could also represent the Celtic god Cernunnos, a Gallic deity whose worship is known from Britain and the Continent from a number of monuments, inscriptions and figurines, as well as on the famous Gundestrup cauldron found in a bog in Denmark. His name means "the Horned One", and is depicted as a bearded male wearing a torc around his neck and with large horns or antlers on his head. Representations of him are known from as early as the fourth century B.C. from the Paspardo rock carving at Val Camonica, Northern Italy. Other representations include the monument set up by Parisian sailors which was discovered underneath Notre Dame cathedral, and the relief carving from Cirencester where his legs are in the form of two snakes. The Celts' preoccupation with fecundity caused them on occasions to represent their male gods with oversized phalli, and a bronze figure of Mercury from Tongres, France, depicts the god with two phalli on his head.