Roman 2nd century AD
Infant Bacchus steelyard weight
7 cm (20 cm with porphyry base)
Provenance:
Fernand Lafarge Collection, Paris, until 2019
A delightful imperial sculpture but with a utilitarian function. Cast in bronze with beautiful detail and finished with silvered eyes, this object was employed as a steelyard weight used to measure units. It is filled with lead, and although small weighs 50 Roman pounds, about 16kg.
