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Details
LOT 0169
Roman Bronze Handle with Winged Lion and Mask
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
5 1/8 in. (6 3/4 in.) (452 grams total, 13 cm high (17 cm high including stand)).
D-section swept-curve handle, the upper end developing to the foreparts of a winged lion with forelegs bent and paws resting on the vessel's rim, wings folded to the flanks; high-relief foliage detailing to the outer face of the handle; acanthus leaf to the lower end developing to a facing bearded mask of a satyr; mounted on a custom-made stand. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired between 1980-1983.
From the 'Empire' collection, an important UK private collection of seals.
Literature
Cf. Tassinari, S., La Vaisselle de Bronze, Romaine et Provinciale, au Musée des Antiquités Nationales, XXIXe supplément de Gallia, Paris, 1975, items 152, 178, for type.
Footnotes
Usually this type of handles decorated ovoid-shaped oinochoai, a type of vase widespread in Southern Italy. Numerous specimens in the National Museum of Archaeology, Naples present panther or horse protomes, as do some provincial specimens from Gaul. Particular and unusual here is the lion-griffin, which refers to Greek-Egyptian motifs, perhaps connected to the cult of Isis-Serapis.
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