Object Description
Ca. AD100-300
An outstanding pair of bronze and iron fittings, each one comprised of a spiral fluted column with an iron rod projecting from the Ionic-variant capital. The rods are surmounted by a bust of Bacchus wearing a goat pelt with a hoof falling over his shoulder. He has a smooth chest, with carefully delineated nipples. Bacchus’ handsome face is crowned by a centrally-parted coiffure, pulled back into a low chignon, with wavy locks cascading over his shoulders and adorned by a wreath of ivy leaves and berries. Both of these matching busts sit upon rectangular plinths with hatched borders and a looped handle that joins the plinths to the upper end of the bust’s verso, just beneath the nape of the neck.
Father Liber (Liber Pater) or Bacchus was the god the Romans identified with Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility. He has come to be associated particularly with drunkenness and lascivious behavior. Even today people speak of having “bacchic rites,” referring back to ecstatic and frenzied Dionysian festivals such as those that take place in Euripides’ play The Bacchae. Item comes with a professional historical report from Ancient Report Specialists.
Size: L: 375mm / W: 300mm ; 2.7kg