FIGURINE

A largely complete copper-alloy Roman figurine in the form of a standing bull.

The solid-cast object is of realistic appearance, with well-moulded details. The flat face of the animal tapers towards the muzzle, the inward-sloping surface of which has a transversely grooved mouth and a pair of incuse nostrils. The eyes are located one either side of this flat central area, and each takes the form of a ring-shaped groove. Little remains of the left-hand horn, and it is likely that even the upward-curving right horn is incomplete. The upward-angling ears are set below the horns. Adjacent to the horns, extending across the top of the head, there is an incised, transversely segmented band, which represents the hair. The base of the muzzle extends into a prominent dewlap, throat and chest; these elements, together with the high crest, give the animal a well-built appearance. A prominent ridge springs from the base of the muzzle, extending down the chest and between the forequarters, after which it terminates, just short of the scrotum. The back and underside of the body converge towards the rump. The animal's shoulders and thighs taper into the straight limbs, only one of which, the animal's back left leg, is complete. A tail hangs between these back legs, terminating a short distance from the surviving hoof. A number of grooves, mostly lightly incised, have been used to delineate the various parts of the body and also to create the impression of skin folds. Patches of the original patination survive, interspersed with areas of corrosion.

Length: 58.4mm; height: 47.7mm; width: 18.3mm. Weight: 130.58g.

Martin Henig (pers. comm.) dates this figurine to the 2^nd or 3^rd century AD, citing a comparable bronze dewlapped bull from Mathay, France (Boucher 1976: p. 22, Pl. 77, fig. 377). Another French bull is that from Avrigney (ibid. Pl. 65, nos. 311 and 312), and examples are also recorded from Germany (Menzel 1986: pp. 63 - 64, Taf 79 and 80, nos 128 - 131). The aforementioned pieces differ from this example in that their tails curve upwards rather than hanging between the legs; the Avrigney bull also has three horns, and this is also true of three Roman copper-alloy bulls recorded on the PAS database: LVPL-CB6114 (Weaverham, Cheshire), BUC-668F82 (Watlington, Oxon) and SF-DCB627 (Holbrook, Suffolk). PAS record IOW-2CA926 (Calbourne, Isle of Wight), a vessel attachment, takes the form of a heavily stylised, seated bull. Toynbee (1964: 123) mentions a bronze ox from Gloucestershire but gives no further details.

Henig further comments: 'I suppose a figurine like this, given to a shrine, could as it were represent an offering'. He adds, 'Bulls of course were of prime importance as sacrificial animals and as such are shown for instance on the sides of altars', and cites an example of a stone altar with carved bull in St. Mary's church, Stone-in-Oxney, Kent, which R.E.M. Wheeler suggested may have come from Stutfall Castle, the Roman fort at Lympne, near Hythe (VCH Kent, vol. III (1932), p.169).