ROMAN MINIATURE OBJECT

200

Cast copper alloy bronze stand interpreted as a votive model altar dating to the Roman period. The object is square in plan with a circular opening at the top. Four small knops project from each corner of the upper surface. These would have allowed the stand to secure into holes in the legs of another tier. The sides of the object are decorated with a saltire cross, the angles of which are infilled with enamel. The upper and lower angles are infilled with dark blue enamel while the side angles are infilled with turquoise enamel. Three of the sides of the object are complete, each containing a small amount of enamel, while the fourth side has been punched through resulting in a large irregular perforation. The sides of the perforation are jagged however the edges appear to be worn, indicating that the damage took place in antiquity.Such objects are associated with temples and many of the known examples have been found on fort sites. An example from Brigstock, Northamptonshire, (discovered in an excavation in 1963, and illustrated in Greenfield 'The Romano-British Shrines at Brigstock, Northants' (1963, 228-263)), is dated to the late 3rd to 4th century AD and this artefact can probably also be attributed to this date. An example which can be found on the database is NARC-E42213.These objects are discussed in Kiernan, (2009), who says the following "Usually decorated with enamel with a circular opening on the top. They seem to come in groups of decreasing size, ranging from 1-7 cm in height and stacked on top of one another. In a few instances 2 of the levels survive together but most of the individual stands merely have the four holes on the upper surface where the next level was meant to be added. Apart from 2 examples in Rheinzabern and Cologne, both of which may well be imports, all of these strange objects have been found in Britain. The stands as been variously interpreted as miniature tables, stools or even miniature altars, with the enamel decoration representing the garlands draped around actual altars. Perhaps the most convincing explanation is that put forward by Bayley who argues that the stands were used to hold candles. The different levels of a stand could be removed as the candle burned down, either measure time or to mark the different stages of a ritual. As they copy no obvious life-sized prototype and have a plausible practical function." Kiernan, p. 2009. 'Miniature Votive Offerings in the north-west Provinces of the Roman Empire'.