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LOT 0666
Roman Bronze Statue Base
CIRCA 2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
5 3/4 in. (556 grams, 14.5 cm).
Featuring moulded legs and scalloped lower edge to front face; circular hole to the top; hollow-formed.
ProvenanceAcquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.
Cf. Bolla, M., 'Bronzi figurati romani da luoghi di culto dell'Italia Settentrionale,' in LANX 20 (2015), pp. 49‐143, fig.10, p.57.
FootnotesSome bronze supports found in the dedication shrines in temples are peculiar: they often have no frames of architectural derivation and have a central hole to the top. These bases seem to have not been intended for statuettes but for objects that may have needed support on a wall due to their height, possibly military standards, numerous fragments of which have been found in the Northern Italian regions. If this hypothesis is correct, this base could confirm the dedication of 'standards' as ex voto, positioned in the temple as a place for the conservation of military insignia.
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