A ROMAN BRONZE PHALLUS AMULET, CIRCA 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

拍品描述

A ROMAN BRONZE PHALLUS AMULET, CIRCA 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D. Cast in the round, the amulet takes the form of an erect phallus rising from a pair of pendulous testicles, the shaft tapering slightly toward a well-defined glans. Projecting from the underside of the shaft is a curved suspension loop, pierced laterally for a cord or chain, positioned so that the object would hang horizontally when worn. The surface carries a mottled patina of dark green and ochre earthen deposits, with areas of lighter cuprite showing through where the bronze has been rubbed or exposed. The modelling is compact and vigorous, the anatomical forms reduced to essentials without becoming schematic. Amulets of this form belong to the wider Roman category of fascinum objects, apotropaic charms invoking the divine phallus as a protective force against the evil eye and against the malign attention that accompanied good fortune, health, or beauty. Pliny records their use on the necks of children and on the undersides of triumphal chariots, and Varro connects them to the god Fascinus, whose cult was maintained by the Vestals. The type was worn by children, soldiers, and freedmen, hung in doorways and workshops, and mounted on horse-trappings and wagons. The suspension loop on the present example indicates that it was intended to be worn on the body, most probably as a pendant. The material itself carries meaning in this class of object. Bronze was the standard medium for personal apotropaia in the Roman world, cast in quantity in provincial workshops from the late Republican period onward and distributed across the Empire through military and commercial networks. The medium is durable, easily suspended, and sufficiently modest in value to be worn daily without ostentation, which is precisely the register the fascinum occupies: a functional charm rather than a luxury ornament. Comparable examples are known from sites across Italy, Gaul, Britain, and the Rhine and Danube frontiers, testifying to the geographic reach of the belief. This amulet exemplifies the frank, unembarrassed apotropaic vocabulary of the Roman household, in which the phallus operated not as an erotic image but as a protective sign, deployed with the same everyday practicality as a lock on a door. The compact modelling and integral suspension loop mark it as a personal pendant of the early Imperial period, when such charms circulated most widely. Dimensions: Length 4.2 cm

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