LOT 0202

Stone Corbel with Severed Head of a Gallo-Roman

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

16 7/8 in. (22.8 kg, 43 cm).

Statue or frieze fragment with male head modelled in the half-round; circular face with large almond-shaped eyes, heavy brow, thick tousled hair framing the face, drooping moustache and short beard; presented at an oblique angle to the lower face of the block; two mounting holes to the underside. [No Reserve]

Found in Norfolk, UK.
Acquired from Michael Booth, 1998.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

See Ross, A., Pagan Celtic Britain, London, 1967, pp.90-92; Boulestin, B. & Gambier, D.H., Crânes trophées, crânes d'ancêtres et autres pratiques autour de la tête: problèmes d'interprétation en archéologie. Actes de la table ronde pluridisciplinaire, musée national de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac (Dordogne, France), 14-16 octobre 2010, BAR International Series 2415, Oxford, 2012.

The angle of the face in respect of the block suggests that the head is both tilted and detached, i.e. that it is a tête coupé or severed head. The practice of headhunting is documented among the natives of both Gaul and Britain (and elsewhere) in the Iron Age. The head is then considered to have special powers to avert evil and promote fertility, cure disease and provide other benefits. This is the case with the carved head - a male mask with copious hair and beard - from the Roman baths at Bath, Somerset (the ancient Aquae Sulis) which was a site of worship long before the arrival of a Roman presence in the area (Ross, p.91). The head takes on the character of a deity and is believed to respond favourably to prayer.