Details

LOT 0806

Roman Bronze Phallic Dagger Quillon or Pendant

1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

2 1/8 in. (25.5 grams, 55 mm).

With a rectangular plaque with central void, phallus to one short edge and a stylised fist to the other.

Provenance

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Literature

See for a bronze phallic element of same typology, Metropolitan Museum of Art, no.60.11.71.

Footnotes

In the Roman world the phallus was symbol of luck or fertility, and it as well was believed to have apotropaic functions. Pendants, amulets and small objects were worn by all sorts of people as symbols of protection, especially from young children according to Varro and Pliny the Elder. The phallus is commonly found on reliefs, frescoes and lamps from the Graeco-Roman world. This object can have been the quillon of a small dagger, but also hung as a charm from a tintinnabulum, a wind chime adorned with bells and intended to ward off evil.