1969.03

Bronze Buckle

Purchased. Max. width of plaque 4.8cm; length of upper section 7.8cm.

Part of a bronze buckle with a curved oval flap bearing a figured scene in relief; there is a slot in the shaft above the plaque; the arm to the right has a stylized animal head, to the left a forked projection which is broken off above. The back is plain. The surface is rather worn and has some green patina.

The scene shows a figure in long dress with helmet and spear (Minerva) clasping hands with a figure in armour with a short cloak billowing out from his shoulders (perhaps a general) before a frontal seated figure (Jupiter?). The seated figure seems to rest his right foot above a squatting figure with head on knees. If the other figures are identified correctly, the last should represent the conquered enemy. The upper part of the background is stippled and there is leafwork to either side.

The object is probably a buckle from the harness or trappings of a horse.

Note that the figures clasp their left hands, possibly because the design had not been thought through in an original mould. Probably Roman provincial work (Gaul or Britain?) of the second century AD.

Folio Fine Art Ltd (London), Catalogue 61 (February 1969) no. 732 (ill.); J.R. Green with B. Rawson, Catalogue of Antiquities in the Australian National University, A.N.U. (Canberra, 1981) 101.