Vessel Finial in the Shape of a Ram’s Head
Vessel Finial in the Shape of a Ram’s Head
Artist
Unidentified
Place of OriginEgypt
Date1st-3rd century CE
Dimensions1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm)
ClassificationSculpture
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1906.153
Not on View
DescriptionThis bronze finial, likely from the top of a ceremonial or decorative vessel, takes the form of a ram’s head.
Label TextThis small bronze object ends in the finely detailed head of a ram, with curled horns and alert features. Originally part of a ceremonial or dining vessel known as a patera, it would have functioned as a decorative handle. The form appears frequently across the Roman world in the 1st to 3rd centuries CE and may reference Egyptian ram deities like Khnum. While the exact origin of this example is unknown, the workmanship suggests production in Roman Egypt.
7th century BCE or later
about 15 BCE - 25 CE (Roman, Augustan)
6th-5th century BCE
Perhaps late first or 2nd century
1st-2nd century CE
about 2400 - 2000 BCE
18th Dynasty (1550-1292 BCE), about 1350–1300 BCE
Late 2nd to early 3rd century CE
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