A ROMAN BRONZE TINTINNABULUM

CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE TINTINNABULUM
circa 1st century b.c.-1st century a.d.
In the form of a zoomorphized phallus, with leonine legs, the left raised to relieve an itch along the shaft, a phallus between the legs, the upright tail in the form of a phallus, with two fragmentary projections along the "neck," presumably ears, a large suspension ring between the raised wings, the top of the glans with a perforation for use as the nozzle of a lamp
5.1/8 in. (13 cm.) long

Provenance

Miss Sylvia Adams
Fine Antiquities, Bonhams Knightsbridge, 4 July 1996, lot 374

Lot Essay

Tintinnabula were hung in the open areas of a Roman home where the action of the wind would ring the pendant bells (missing on the present example). The sound of bells was thought to ward off evil, which, combined with the apotropaic value of the polyphallic object itself, made such tintinnabula powerful charms.

For similar tintinnabula compare two examples from Herculaneum, pp. 141-142 in Grant, et al., Eros in Pompeii.