eBay

Date: Circa: 1^st – 2^nd Century AD: Northern European:

Size: height: 14.2 cm: width: [max.]: 8.3 cm: weight: 1194 grams:

Description:

A very fine and rare Roman period zoomorphic solid bronze cast [lost-wax technique], of a stylized Peacock [Pavo Cristatus]:

The body of the Peacock appears as an oval platform with incised lines denoting wing and tail details: The legs are seen stylized as the rectangular stand below: The neck rises to as a slender circular-form with the beaked head, bulbous eyes and decorated crest above: The crest details a series of ‘ring and dot’ motifs and there are remains of red enamel seen within: A cast bronze rectangular slot is seen towards the tail which, upon plan is wider above than below: It is possible that this aperture may have allowed a secondary fixture to rise as the splayed Peafowl ‘train’, this may have been of organic material and possibly real bird-feathers:

Roman Goddess Juno / Greek Goddess Hera: Notes:

Juno [Latin Iuno] was, the queen of the Roman God and wife of the principle god Jupiter: She served as a champion and protector of women, especially in their domestic roles of marriage and motherhood. Juno’s mythology and iconography were mostly adopted from the Greek Goddess Hera and, the Etruscan Goddess Uni: Juno has important sanctuaries on the Aventine Hill in Rome, as well as the Capitoline Hill:

Like Hera and Uni, Juno’s favourite animal was the Peacock, in ancient art, Peacocks were frequently depicted alongside the Goddess - picture 10:

Condition: Very Fine:

The figurine has been cast in solid bronze and has a typically ‘archaic’ patina seen in multicoloured tones of brown with calcification throughout: It also shows some silvering in several locations and it may be that the surface was silvered originally: The bronze surfaces show age associated striation marks both as a result of hand-finishing at the time of manufacture and, as a result of great age:

Provenance: Northern European Collection:

The figurine has been held in a private Northern French European collection since the 1970’s: No previous details are none beyond this time:

Reference material and further reading:

Where possible ancient artifacts may be referenced to similar material observed in the following publications within my collection:

British Artefacts Vol.1, 2 and 3: Brett Hammond [Greenlight Publishing 2010]:
Celtic & Roman Artefacts: Nigel Mills [Greenlight Publishing 2007]:

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome: Mary Beard [Profile Books 2015]:

50 Bronze Age Artefacts: Portable Antiquities Scheme: Dot Boughton [Amberley Publishing 2021]:

Pottery in Britain 4000BC to AD 1900: Lloyd Laing [Greenlight Publishing 2003]:

British Iron Age Coins In The British Museum: Richard Hobbs [British Museum 1996]:

Swords of The Viking Age: Ian Peirce: [The Boydell Press 2003]:

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society Volume 85: [Cambridge University Press
2019]

Mesolithic Europe: Geoff Bailey / Penny Spikins [Cambridge University Press 2008]

Viking Art: James Graham-Campbell: [Thames & Hudson, London 2018]

Roman Coins Vol. 1, 2 & 3: David R Sear: [Spink London 2000]:

The Roman Cavalry: Karen R. Dixon: [B. . Batsford 1997]:

Rome’s Saxon Shore: Coastal Defenses of Roman Britain AD 250 – 500: Nic Fields [Osprey Publishing 2006]:

Amulets of Ancient Egypt: Carol Andrews: [University of Texas Press / British Museum Press 1994]:

The Uniforms of the Roman World: Military dress, weapons, artillery, ships, siege engines and fortifications: Kevin F. Killey: [Anness Publishing 2017]:

Where possible finger rings may be referenced to similar material observed in the following publications within my collection:

Victorian and Albert Museum CATALOGUE OF FINGER RINGS 1930: C.C.Oman [Anglia Publishing. 1991 – Now out of print]:

Finger Rings: Diana Scarisbrick / Martin Henig: [Ashmolean Museum Oxford. 2003]:

Ancient Rings An Illustrated Collectors Guide: T. N. Polio: [McFarland & Co Inc. 2018:

1000 Rings: Inspiring Adornments of the Hand: Le Van, Marthe; Ebendorf, Robert [W: Lark Books 2004]: