Description:
A large and heavy bronze handle, which is lavishly adorned with several elements that were arranged symmetrically from the centre outwards. On either side we see at the lower end appliques in the shape of the head of Pan, showing horns, an ivy wreath and shaggy hair; his pupils were possibly originally inlaid. Above them is a decorated and pointed amphora full of fruit, then follows the head of a panther and finally a dolphin, its tail touching the middle division, which is ring shaped and incised.
Dating:
Circa 1st-2nd century C.E.
Size:
Height 14.6 cm.
Literature:
Comstock, Mary B., Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston, 1971), p. 331, no. 466;
Annemarie Kaufmann-Heinimann, Die römischen Bronzen der Schweiz; Band I: Augst und das Gebiet der Colonia Augusta Raurica (Mainz am Rhein, 1977), p. 120-121; 147-148, no. 257; pls. 122, 123, 161;
Suzanne Tassinari, Il vasellame bronzeo di Pompei (Ministero per i beni culturali ambientali, Soprintendenza archeologica di Pompei, Cataloghi, volume 5) (Roma, L'Erma di Bretschneider, 1993), p. 33, no. B1222 with plate 120, 2, 4.
Provenance:
Formerly American private collection, acquired in Jaffa, Israel, in the early 1980s.
Condition:
Intact.
Price:
€ 3,600
Stock number:
C1059