A \"new\" discovery

[PhilusEstilius]

Byron.

What may be rivets would have held it to a backing indeed but the backing could well have been leather as in horse harness very much the same way as with metal decoration on leather horse chamfrons.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Possibly Brian! I was thinking of the phalarae plates in Edinburgh, just flat plated with inscriptions, which are said to be backing plates.
But leather too I suppose!

[PhilusEstilius]

Byron

The back plates you refer to are the ones from Trimontium and were from centurians Phalerae but would have had thinner bronze raised figures wrapped onto them. These are very similar to the Lauersfort Phalerae but sadly missing their pictures today, but it is interesting that there is a kidney shaped backing piece like the double sphinx of the Lauersfort. The name on the Trimontium plates is Attici that may indicate that these phalerae were made by a craftsman named Atticus and the Lauersfort carry the name Medami that could indicate these were made by a man named Medamius.

[Pontius Agrippa]

What a wonderful work!!! Fantastic.

[jvrjenivs]

Looking at the style of this piece I would also suggest it to be a cavalry piece over an umbo.
Just my 2 denarii, though.

[Vindex]

Whatever it is I would agree with Brian that it is perhaps Mars and not Minerva as suggested in the accompanying articles.

If it IS a cavalry phalera, you wouldn't be hanging that on a little pony... :twisted:

[jvrjenivs]

Compare:
http://www.romancoins.info/milit-horse-headdress.jpg
http://www.romancoins.info/milit-horsearmour.JPG

Furthermore, likewise items are found from Schwarzenacker, Carnuntum, Miltenberg, Tabris and Bonn.

Ref: Jochen Garbsch: Romische Paraderustungen, 1978

[PhilusEstilius]

Moi.

There is a book "Reiter wie Statuen aus Erz" by Marcus Junkelmann where he shows even a more larger model of one of these on one of his smaller mounts along with a copy of the chamfron known as Ganymede, made by Dieter Krompholz very similar to this copty I did some years ago of the same piece.
[attachment=5962]easyshare369Medium.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=5963]easyshare361Medium.jpg[/attachment]

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Ah! I was thinking it was the headpiece to a horse. I wasn't sure, but that's cool.

[Vindex]

Forgive me, I was being satirical! (or trying to be anyway!)

[Flavivs Aetivs]

If I recall roman horses were quite small anyways.

[Pontius Agrippa]

They were like big ponies.

[noxia]

Even if there are holes, it need not be a shield boss.
Remember that you have to fastened the ansa with nails. This runs horizontally and not diagonally.
In this piece they run, if there are holes, diagonally. I think we have to see the back.

Yes, we have to see the backside, just as i wrote in my first post!

Not every shieldboss features holes for the ansa. There are some rectangular and also round shield bosses, which habe no separate holes for the ansa but a similar nail hole pattern as the one i suggested.

Have a look at Nabbefeld, Römische Schilde. By the way, i had a conversation with the author concerning this object and he thinks too that it MIGHT be a shield boss and not a phalera. I never wrote, that i am convinced this has to be a shield boss. No, i wrote, that there might be another possibility.

As far as no thorough examination of the object and better pictures are being published, i will not be convinced of either explanation. That is the scientist in me speaking. You, of course, may make up your opinion just as you like.

[PhilusEstilius]

I consider this to be a Phalera that was used as part of a horse harness decoration fitted to the chest of the horse, it is made from very thin bronze sheet of about 1mm thickness and if we look closer this is indicated by the rolled edge all around it.

There may have been small pins at points around the edge and these would have been used to fix this repousse' figure to the harness chest leather, the edging is very similar to the replica horse chamfron I have shown it is the kind of thing one has to do to give the figure strength at its edge.

I would not only like to see the reverse of this piece but also a side view for on just estimation I would think it is around 6 to 7cm depth possibly 8cm which is good for this kind of thickness of metal. The shield boss I have shown was made from 0-9mm and that figure is around 5-5 to 6cm in depth.

[Pontius Agrippa]

Philus Estilius:

I agree with you. These are precisely the reasons that speak for Phalerae.
Still we need to finish the scientific evaluation.