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Description: | Incomplete cast copper alloy Roman figurine. This figure represents a detachable warrior that would have once sat astride the figure of a horse. The figure is quite crude. The head is globular but flattened and is 10.52mm long and 6.16mm thick. It is moulded so that the figure appears to be wearing a helmet above, to the rear of the head and to either side of his face, with no embellishments such as a crest or ear flaps. The eyes are simple incised, large circles and a simple, horizontal incised line represents the mouth. The face is now damaged, but the nose, which now appears absent, may have been formed from a raised ridge. The figure has its right arm raised and its left arm down. The right arm is thin and a flattened oval in section and is 18.74mm long and 3.58mm wide. The hand detail is missing and it now tapers to a blunt point. The left arm is also suboval in section but much broader and disproportionate to the right, being 16.36mm long and 5.74mm wide. The hand is also missing and it too ends in a blunt point. It is possible that the raised arm once held a spear and the lowered arm a shield. The torso of the figure is subrectangular in section, flaring slightly at the waist. A grooved line around the waist and to the front of the neck gives the suggestion of the rider's tunic. Grooved lines on the left arm that suggest the drapes of fabric support this idea. Beneath the rider's waist, the lower figure creates an inverse U shape. The thighs of the rider are wide and the rear extends to the back, giving the impression that the torso is attached to a saddle. However, lugs extending from the 'saddle' are presumably the rider's truncated legs, suggesting that the thighs and rear are simply exaggerated for the figure to sit securely on the horse. It may also be plausible that the saddle-like lower half represents the flare of a tunic skirt from which the legs extend, especially as there is a grooved line between the top of the legs and the 'tunic hem'. The legs are truncated and are little more than blunted lugs and no more than 5mm long in each case. Apart from the incised lines, the figure is plain. The figure is 47.82mm long and 20.28mm wide across the open legs and weighs 17.08g. Much of the original surface survives with a mid green patina, with exposed surfaces showing as slightly lighter. There are some patches of browny corrosion product. Break edges are worn, suggesting damage occurred in antiquity. Johns and Rigby, 1984 (The Antiquaries Journal, volume 64, page 395) reported a similar figure from near Torksey, Lincolnshire and report that a number of small horsemen figurines are known from Britain. They suggest that they may have been associated with the worship of the god Mars, and this too is suggested by Pitts 1979 (Roman bronze figures of the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes, page 31. Johns and Rigby suggest that such figures may be knobs from vessels, but the lack of a scar between the riders legs and the distinct shape of the lower torso convincingly suggest it once sat astride a separate horse figurine.Following Johns and Rigby, the figure recorded here is probably 1st or 2nd century in date.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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