Roman Bronze Fork-Tailed Bird Statuette or Finial 2nd Century AD

Description

Material: Bronze (copper alloy)

Period: Roman imperial

Date: c2nd century AD

Origin: Roman provinces. possibly Romano-British

Condition: Fine 

Description: A dove or swallow-like bird statuette. modelled in the round with wings folded and a forked tail. Made of copper alloy with an attachment area found below..

Size and Weight: 39mm. 14.65g 

Features and Provenance: Good historical provenance. originally from a German then Austrian collection in the 1980’s; more recently London collections.

Statuettes like these were made from a number of materials. such as stone. bronze or precious metals. depending on the use and the owners social rank. As there is an attachment area underneath our example was probably not votive in nature but a finial for furniture or from jewellery. such as might be found on a zoomorphic hair-pin. but the weight would not indicate this. so this lovely little piece will remain a mystery.     

Condition Summary. This varies with the age of the artefact and there are grades between

Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear. all parts of pattern etc present. visible and clear

Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief. all parts of pattern etc present. but may be worn

Fine (F). Wear on the artefact and parts of item and pattern etc may be missing or not visible