medallion
- Museum number
- WB.2.b
- Description
-
Bronze circular medallion, head of Pluto in high relief, cast and chased with pendant ribbed ring below for use as handle; head turned slightly to right with drooping moustache and beard, with long tress on each shoulder; on the head a wreath and lotus flower head-dress.
- Production date
- 100BC - 1BC
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 11 centimetres (medallion)
-
Diameter: 7.40 centimetres (ring)
-
Length: 17.80 centimetres
-
Weight: 414 grammes
-
Depth: 5 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Provenance: None is recorded.
Commentary: The medallions were formerly described as litter handles, however the heads have now been re-attributed since the original British Museum catalogue and it is thought more likely that the handles are for something other than a litter, as the handles do not sit in a position which would make this practical. The deities depicted and the findspot near a cemetery suggest that the handles more likely belonged to a piece of funerary furniture such as a chest.
Bibliography: Charles Hercules Read, 'The Waddesdon Bequest: Catalogue of the Works of Art bequeathed to the British Museum by Baron Ferdinand Rothschild, M.P., 1898', London, 1902, no. 2; O.M. Dalton, 'The Waddesdon Bequest', 2nd edn (rev), British Museum, London, 1927, no.2; H. Tait, 'The Waddesdon Bequest', British Museum, London, 1981, p. 13 and figs. 3-4; L. Summerer, 'Vier Hellenistische Bronzen Aus Amisos', in Archäologischer Anzeiger, 1998, pp.401-14.
- Location
- On display (G2a/dc3)
- Acquisition date
- 1898
- Acquisition notes
- This collection is known as the Waddesdon Bequest under the terms of Baron Ferdinand Rothschild’s will.
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- WB.2.b
