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Description: | A Romano-British cast copper-alloy figurine in the form of a running stag, probably representing a Red Deer.The figurine is a high-quality piece shown very naturalistically in three dimension. The stag's mouth is slightly open and the eyes are shown by two oval incised lines. The ears are concave pointed-ovals and are shown swept back to compliment the forward motion of the stag. The stag has two antlers, though one is broken just above the coronet. The surviving antler is long and convex when viewed from the front, with fives tines projecting from the main trunk. The base of the antler is known as the coronet, and each tine beginning with the lowest is known as the brow, bez, and the trez tine. There are two further tines forming a crown giving the figurine a ten pointed stags head (5 on each side). The development of a crown or cup is a feature only seen in larger males. The neck is oval in cross-section, thick and leads into a smooth, muscular body. The tail is short. The front legs extend forwards from the body and then angle downwards to the hooves to represent the stag running. Similarly the rear-legs are extended backwards as the stag gains momentum. Overall the general impression is that the stag is runnning rather than leaping. Representations of leaping stags on other Roman artefacts show the front-legs drawn in and the head held fowards to compliment the motion. The stags genitalia are shown on the underside by various mouldings.The surface of the stag is smooth and has a glossy mid-green/brown patina. The figurine is in excellent condition.Red deer were common in the woodlands of Roman Britain and were often hunted. The well-developed antlers and the lack of a shaggy represent the stag in July or August, before the rutting season began in September. The fact that the developed antlers indicate a large male and that the animal is shown running rather than leaping might suggest that the stag is in the process of being hunted. The figurine may also have associations with the Roman goddess Diana, who was goddess of the flocks and the hunt. Diana is often shown with a bow and arrow and a hunting dog or stag. Comparisions can be made between this figurine and a Roman copy in marble of a greek bronze of the late 4th century BC showing Artemis and a leaping stag (Morford, M. and Lenardon, R. 1999, Classical Mythology, p. 142). The marble is in the Louvre, Paris.Similar stag figurines are known from Roman Britain. A parallel is known from Milber Hill Fort (Fox, Pattern and Purpose, pl. 42), Brampton in Norfolk (Henig, Art of Roman Britain), and Sutton Hoo (with discussion of other examples by Bruce Mitford).Stags are seen on various media in Roman Britain such as mosaics, brooches and ceramics. A leaping stag is present on two mosaic panels at the Roman villa at Winterton, North Lincolnshire. The first panel (Mosaic 68.2, panel A) depicts a seated Orpheus surrounded by eight trapezoidal panels. Two are lost and six contain animals charmed by Orpheus' music and moving in an anti-clockwise progression around him (Neill, p.203; p. 202 and fig. 170). The stag is shown with his frontlegs drawn in as if leaping. Another stag shown walking is depicted on panel B at Winterton (ibid., p. 201 and fig. 169, p. 204). The various motifs in the Winterton mosaic and also others within the region may have associations with the Seasons and hunting (ibid., p.204).
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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