- Museum number
- 1947,0714.6
- Description
-
Part of the front of a sarcophagus, of greyish marble with large crystals and dark blue bands, most probably from Proconnesus: Nereids recline on sea-panthers, accompanied by dolphins.
- Production date
- 3rdC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 29.20 centimetres
-
Length: 117 centimetres
-
Thickness: 6.60 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Walker, Susan, 1990, Catalogue of Roman Sarcophagi in the British Museum:
Michaelis, 636 no. 59; E. Strong, JHS 28 (1908), 28 no. 42, fig. 8; A. Rumpf, Berl. Winck. Progr. 95 (1935), 8; ASR, V.l (1939), 73 no. 199.
This is one of a large number of sarcophagi decorated with sea-creatures, made in Rome from the early second to the fourth century AD.(1) The London relief is unusual in having no central motif (such as a head of Oceanus or a clipeus), and in the lack of variety in the beasts. A very similar sarcophagus is now in the Louvre.(2) The interpretation of this and similar scenes is disputed.(3)
The carving of the London relief is slight and rather crude, particularly in the delineation of the panthers' tails and the rendering of the Nereids' genitals. The panthers' mouths are formed of a series of drilled holes. The relief is dated by Rumpf, and the type is dated by Wrede, with particular reference to the development of central motifs, to the third quarter of the second century AD.(4) The workmanship could be Severan.
1. See Rumpf, loc. cit. (above) and Koch-Sichtermann 195-7.
2. Rumpf, 12-13 no. 35.
3. H. Brandenburg, JdI 82 (1967), 195-245, esp. 221 ff; H. Sichtermann, JdI 85(1970), 224-38.
4. Rumpf, loc. cit. (above); H. Wrede, 'Lebenssymbole und Bildnisse zwischen Meerwesen', Fest. Kleiner (Tubingen 1976), 147-78, esp. p. 153.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Broken at the sides and base, with numerous breaks along the upper edge. Restorations include the left side, lower left corner, lower right leg of the Nereid to the left, tails of the panthers, the right feet of the nereids to the right, the upper and lower right corners. The upper part of the tails of the panthers to the left, the dolphins and the Nereid's knee are joined. The lower edge of the relief, showing the underbellies of the panthers in the waves, is missing; this would have added 5 to 6 cm to the height of the chest.
- Acquisition date
- 1947
- Acquisition notes
- Provenance unknown. Formerly in the collection of Sir Frederick Cook of Richmond, Surrey.
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1947,0714.6