Details

LOT 0684

Roman Triclinium Finial Set

1ST-4TH CENTURY A.D.

3 3/4 - 4 in. (1.18 kg total, 9.6-10.1 cm).

A set of four copper-alloy triclinium (bed) finials, each with a bell-shaped body and baluster style finial; hollow to base. [4]

Provenance

Acquired before 2000.
From the collection of a European gentleman living in the UK.

Literature

See Cavalieri, M., 'Ipotesi sulla produzione bronzea dell’Emilia occidentale in età romana' in Santoro, S., Artigianato e produzione nella Cisalpina. Parte I. Proposte di metodo e prime applicazioni, Firenze, 2004, pp.173-198, fig.5.

Footnotes

The Romans, like the Greeks, ate whilst reclined on beds. The eating bed (lectus triclinaris) was a luxury furniture item crafted by carpenters. From the 2nd century B.C., Romans started to create 'lecti aerati, inargentati, inaurati, eborati, testudinei,' i.e. beds made of wood and covered with bronze, silver, gold and ivory fittings (as in our specimens) or with scales of other precious material. Such elements were sometimes sculpted in the shape of an animal protome, or were simply bell-shaped, like our specimens.