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Description: | Cast copper-alloy handle from a wax spatula, in the shape of the bust of goddess Minerva. The head has a helmet with large crest. The figure seems very stylised and worn, with some basic features barely visible. The face is sloping, almost sub-triangular in section. this narrows to a neck, circular in section, before widening out to create a body, which is oval in section. Three horizontal grooves sit across the base of the body at the front, and a diagonal line fom the upper left corner suggests a central V was intended. Two horizontal grooves sit at the base of the body at the back. When looking at the object 'face-to-face', the right side is flat with no features and appears to have beend eliberately worn down. On the unworn half of the object, eyes and mouth are barely visible. Because of this misalignment, the spatula attachment twists slightly to the right, and so the object as a whole is not symetrical. The spatula attachment is stepped at the back.There is no trace of any rivet, solder or other fixing mechanism.Nina Crummy has recently produced a catalogue and discussion of wax spatula handles in the form of Minerva (Feugere type A5). The spatulas were used for smoothing down large areas of wax on writing tablets. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom and learning, so is appropriate for such an object, but Crummy also points out that when detached the handle functions perfectly well as a simple figurine of Minerva. As she was also a goddess of healing, it may then have been used as an amulet or votive offering.
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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