FIGURINE

A Roman copper alloy figurine of an owl. The owl stands atop a spherical object, flattened at the bottom for the object to be freestanding. There is a small dimple at the base of the sphere, the function is still uncertain. There are two parallel engraved lines running around the edge of the spherical base, presumably for decoration. The owls legs are apart slightly and grip the sphere, three toes are visible. The upper legs are thicker than the lower, indicating where feathers would have been. The wings are drawn together at the back, with traces of the feather decoration still visible in places. The head stands out from the body with feather decoration on the lower head. A small beak is roughly central to the head with eyes either side. Ridges run above either eye to accentuate a brow. Longer feathers run down the back of the head. The object has a mid-light green patina and traces of a silver coating on and around the eyes.

Portable XRF (pXRF) analysis was conducted on the object by Dr John Davis, with the following results:

The body is made of a very high-leaded tin bronze, with copper, tin and lead in almost equal proportions. This makes it much heavier than most figurines of this type. This may give some indication of it having been used as a weight, though no other weights of this type have been identified. Thus it is left to the style and construction of the object in order to determine its function and date.

No exact parallels have been found for this object, though some similar objects of Roman date have been noted. Glynn Davis notes that a statue dated to the 1st century AD, found in Rome but currently in the Rijksmuseum in Leiden, bears a striking resemblance to the object in question (http://www.rmo.nl/collectie/afdelingen/romeinen/de-mooiste-objecten/uil). That example is made of sandstone and is also on a pedestal (though not a sphere), though its head is covered in a hawking hood. It is believed that owls would often be used by fortune-tellers to predict the future. Hoods were placed over their faces so that when they were removed, the owl's movements could be interpreted. Rather than a cast hood, perhaps the silvering around the face of this example would have appeared to be a hood to the observer. The stone example mentions that the fortune-teller would predict the future for 4 as (a unit of Roman currency). The link with fortune-telling is less clear in this example, but remains a possible interpretation for its function.

Another similar object was recorded from Wales (NMGW-DAED29, unpublished). Owls were associated with the goddess Minerva (Athena in Greece) and some other examples noted from Chester and Willingham Fen are believed to be cult statues (Green, 1978, p. 52 and 210). The owls mentioned all have enamelled eyes, whereas this example has silvered eyes. It is possible that this example is a variant of the enamelled examples.

A further example that is similar, but not quite identical, was excavated at Folly Lane (Niblett et al., 1999, p. 426). That example is slightly smaller (though does not include a spherical base, and is more stylised than this version. However, the wings are executed in the same style.

Dimensions: height: 46.10 mm; width: 16.97 mm; weight: 41.29g.

Reference:

Green, M.J., 1978. Corpus of Small Cult Objects From The Military Areas of Roman Britain. Oxford : British Archaeological Reports 52.

Niblett, R. et al. 1999. The Excavations of a Ceremonial Site at Folly Lane, Verulamium. London: Britannia 14.

Special thanks go to Dr John Davis (editor for the British Sundial Society) and Glynn Davis (Senior Collections and Learning Curator - Colchester Museums).