Roman Figurine Eagle grasping a goat

Inv. No.: 85.043
Provenance: Roman
Date: c. 2nd century AD
Height: 77mm
Width: 46mm
 
Gift of Dr Stanley Castlehow.

A small figurine of an eagle with open wings clutching the head and neck of a goat with its claws. The motif perhaps derives from the cult of Jupiter Dolichenus. Eagles also had imperial associations. In this example, the eagle is depicted frontally and symmetrically with its head facing forward. It has a curved beak and large eyes, each with upper and lower lids depicted and a central round eyeball. The wings are held out to the sides with the tips curving down and meeting behind the tail, at the back of the figurine, leaving an oval gap between the sides of the eagle and the inner edge of each wing. Incision is used to form lozenge shapes on the body and upper parts of the wings, suggesting plumage. More vertical lines are used to depict the longer feathers on the wing tips and also the feathers of the wedge-shaped tail. Incision is also used to suggest the claws, but with very little detail. The goat neck rises from between the eagle claws and curves upwards so that its head faces the eagle breast. It is moulded very cursorily with an open mouth, round eyes, round ears and two pointed, slightly curved horns with incised rings. The left horn is shorter than the right. The eagle claws and the neck of the goat merge into an oval shape that is set on small rectangular base. There is an oval hollow underneath this base. The piece has a dark patina and is in very good condition.

Function:
A votive offering or perhaps a decorative attachment to a vessel or other object.

Manufacture:
Cast solid using a mould, probably by means of the lost-wax method.

Bibliography:
Antiquities, Charles Ede catalogue, 134 (1985), No. 32.

Cook, A. B., Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1914, Vol. 1, 604-633 (re Jupiter Dolichenus).

Richter, G. M. A., Catalogue of Greek and Roman Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1956, 39-40.

Toynbee, J. M. C., Animals in Roman Life and Art, London, Thames and Hudson, 1973, 240-243 ("Eagles").

Comparanda:
Comstock, M. and C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan & Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Greenwich, Connecticut, New York Graphic Society, 1971, Nos. 164 and 167 (small Roman bronze eagles).

Mitten, D. G. and S. F. Doeringer, Master Bronzes from the Classical World, Mainz on Rhine, Philipp von Zabern, 1967, No. 271 (bust of Serapis with an eagle representing Jupiter on his head; 2nd century AD).

Popa, A. and I. Berciu, Le Culte de Jupiter Dolichenus dans la Dacie Romaine, Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1978, Pl. XIII, 1 (fragment of a marble relief with an eagle seizing a sheep).

Richter, G. M. A., Catalogue of Greek and Roman Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1956, Pl. XVIII, F (No. 21) (bronze statuette of an eagle grasping a bull; probably 2nd or 3rd century AD

Toynbee, J. M. C., Animals in Roman Life and Art, London, Thames and Hudson, 1973, Figs. 120, 121 (Roman eagle on a cameo and a bronze example from Silchester).