Roman seal box with phallus
Price: on request
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Object number
AR3291A
| Object: |
Roman seal box with phallus
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| Material: |
Bronze with tinned surface.
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| Period: |
2nd cent. AD to 3rd cent. AD. Roman Imperial period. |
| Description: |
Seal box with circular body and lid. Both parts are connected via a hinge. A circular extension adorns the body and lid on the opposing side. The body has three circular holes on the bottom, as well as two large notches for the cord on the sides. The lid bears a phallus in high relief. It was cast separately and secured with a single rivet.
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| Background: |
This box protected the seal of bags for transport. Valuable goods or important contents could thus be protected from tempering with them. The procedure started with sewing the box to the bag through the holes at the bottom. The bag was then filled and tied with a cord in front of witnesses. The knot was placed inside of the box, with the notches at the side accepting the cord. Wax was poured in and embedded the knot. Finally, the sender could imprint his personal seal, e.g. by means of an intaglio mounted on his fingerring. The box was closed and prevented the wax from being damaged by handling during storage or transport. The Romans took great pains to decorate these containers, sometimes called seal capsules. Of course only the lid was visible when in use, not the bottom. The phallus was a protective symbol for the Romans. It consequently fits well on this protective box. |
| Dimensions: |
25.5mm long.
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| Condition: |
The pin and a small part of the hinge is missing, lid and body are not firmly connected as a result, but definetly belong together, the two parts of the hinge fit together perfectly. Each part for itself is in great condition. Modern inscription "2574" in white ink on the inside of the lid.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us on the British art market in 2022. Exported with licence no. PAU/00781/24 of the Arts Council England. Previously in a British private collection, acquired around 1990. The piece originates from the British private collection of Richard Hattatt, collection no. 2161. Acquired between 1970 and 1989. It was found in County Durham in North East England. Hattatt points to six comparable examples from Great Britain and a two from Germany, which gives a rough idea about the region this variant of seal box was manufactured. About Richard Hattatt: After retiring from the family business, Richard Hattatt devoted himself to collecting and studying antiquities. After a few years, focusing on the area of fibulae, one of the most important collections of ancient brooches from the region north of the Mediterranean emerged. In the years 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1989, four books were the fruit of a tireless analysis and work on the specimen in his collection. Those books are now regarded as standard works in the field of Iron Age and Roman brooches, but also contain other artefacts like seal boxes. When Richard Hattatt died in 1992, parts of his collection were already housed in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) and the Wiltshire Museum (Devizes). Other artefacts in the collection went to auction houses and into private collections. However, the enormous gain in knowledge through the systematic collecting activity, the drawings and the information consolidated by Hattatt has been preserved for posterity in his books. It is with the appropriate pride that we can offer you this artefact from Hattatt's collection and his books. |
| Publication: |
This seal box is published in the standard work Richard Hattatt, Ancient Brooches And Other Artefacts (1989), p. 465, fig. 24, no. 150. Note that the numbering in the publications differs from the numbering in the collection.
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| References: |
Cf. Donald Jackson, Roman Seals, box 5188 and 5210. For a very similar specimen on the art market see Christie's New York auktion 17 December 1998, lot 111 (three boxes, sold for 1725 USD at that time). |
| Literature: |
Results of the latest reasearch, and especially an explanation of the previously uninterpreted holes in the bottom of the box, have been published by Collin Andrews in Seal Boxes in Roman Britain, BAR British Series 567 (Archaeopress Oxford, 2012). There is a good and brief summary plus an experimental verification by Pip Smither, Keep it secret, keep it safe – Roman seal boxes (2021), available online via the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
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| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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