Ancient Roman Bronze Furniture Mount (100 to 200 Roman Empire)

Bronze

Provenance: Ex German Private collection
Found in Cologne in 1911. Inventory no.843
Thence by descent

Couches made of wood with bronze mounts were used in classical times for sleeping, reading and writing as well as for dining and the entertaining of guests. This was done in a reclining position with the left arm leaning on cushions and was a custom adopted from ancient Greece. This bronze mount would probably have been applied to the upper end of a curved arm rest called a ‘fulcrum’, the thumb perhaps a votive reference to Dionysus, the God of wine and good living. It may have been used as a convenient hook for clothing or weaponry.

An Unusual Ancient Roman Bronze Furniture Mount Cast in the Form of an Upright Thumb, probably from a ‘Klinai’ or banqueting couch
1st – 2nd Century AD

Size: 8.5cm high, 6cm wide, 4.5cm deep – 3¼ ins high, 2¼ ins wide, 1¾ ins deep