Roman Marble Oscillum

An ancient Roman marble oscillum, a disc suspended from a colonnade, carved in low relief with an ecstatic dancing maenad in billowing drapery holding a thrysos on one side; a male figure with lantern and exaggerated phallus and purse next to an amphora on the other.

Ca. 1st century AD.

Height: 11 3/8 in. (29 cm).

An oscillum is a double sided marble disc ornament typically suspended from the architrave of a building as decoration.

cf. British Museum, inv. no. 1805,0703.215; J. B. Ward-Perkins & A. Claridge, Pompeii AD 79, Royal Academy of Arts, (London, 1976), p. 83, no. 82.

Formerly in a Paris private collection; acquired from Nina Borowski, Paris, France in 1982.

Inv#: 9189

Guaranteed Authentic

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