LOT 0178

Roman Bronze Eagle with Dedication to Zeus

2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.

3 3/4 in. (233 grams, 95 mm).

Depicted in a standing position with an erect head, the detailed claws resting on a pedestal base, folded wings and a long tail; detailed engraving of feathers, superb rendering of the beak and round eyes; Greek inscription on the front and left side of the raised square pedestal, having a square socket allowing the insertion in a staff or shaft; the inscription could be translated as: '[Ο]Ι [ΤΗ]Σ Δ[ΙΟΣ] = To Zeus / [Ε]ΤΑ[Ι]Ρ[ΕI] (?)ΡΡΑΣ = those of the association of ? ..RRAS / ΕΥΧ ΗΝ = in fulfilment of a vow'.

UK private collection before 2000.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Private collection, London, UK.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13060-248309.

Cf. Kirk, J.R., ‘Bronzes from Woodeaton, Oxon’ in Oxoniensia, 1949, pp.1-45; Henig, M. & Munby, J., ‘Three Bronze Figurines’ in Oxoniensia 38, 1973, pp.386-387; Bird, J., ‘Catalogue of Iron Age and Roman artefacts discovered before 1995,’ in Poulton, R., Farley Heath Roman temple, Surrey Archaeological Collection, 93, 2007, pp.34–69; Toepfer, K.M., Signa Militaria. Die römischen Feldzeichen in der Republik und im Prinzipat, Mainz, 2011; Durham, E., ‘The Silchester Bronze Eagle and Eagles in Roman Britain’ in Archaeological Journal 170, 2013, pp.78-105; see very similar eagle in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, accession number 50.91, from Egypt.

In the Roman world the eagle, bird associated with the god Jupiter or Zeus (Aetos Dios = Eagle of Zeus), king of the Olympian gods, and one of his most common attributes together with thunderbolt and the long sceptre, was seen as ‘the symbol and agent of apotheosis after death’ and an eagle was released from the top of an emperor’s funeral pyre to signal the journey of the soul heavenwards. Eagles were also the principal standard of the Legions, in gold or silver, and became the military symbol for excellence. However, the eagle was not reserved only for the ruling class or for military people, but was also found on funerary altars and dedications of private citizens. As is so often the case with metal figurines, nineteen of the eagles found in Britain are from unknown contexts, but they are found at a variety of site types, including four from military sites and three from urban sites. Apart from two from villas, they do not occur at rural settlement sites or at religious sites other than the temple at Woodeaton, Oxon, where a small group of five eagle figurines was recovered (Kirk, 1949; Henig and Munby, 1973). Also of interest is the eagle figure thought to have been a sceptre terminal, which was recovered from the temple at Farley Heath, Surrey. A second sceptre terminal, identified variously as an eagle or raven, was also part of the hoard found at Willingham Fen (Bird 2007, 49 no. 81, fig. 21).