File:Roman figurine vessel mount (FindID 198605).jpg

English: A copper-alloy reclining figurine of Roman date, that is most likely to have functioned as a vessel mount and represents a male banqueter. Martin Henig has examined an illustration of this bronze and has commented that " it actually seems to be wearing a winged hat (petasos) and could he be holding a money bag and caduceus so is he

a reclining Mercury as though at a banquet of the gods."

The figurine is flattish but 3-dimensional and is a soild casting. The underside is rough and has a corroded iron rivet through its centre, the figurine does not therefore appear to have been free-standing but perhaps riveted and soldered into position. The back face is in good condition but the front face is worn and obscured by concreated corrosion products, making any details impossible to see clearly. The figurine measures c43.44mm in width, 38.99mm in height and 13.20mm in thickness.

The figure appears to be wearing a cap or hat, possibly with two worn protrusions, possibly representing wings, from the back face it is clear that the back and shoulders are bare and there is a twisted toga like cloth around the waist and below. The bare back could indicate that this is a male figurine. The right arm is bent at the elbow and slightly raised and rests on the possible knee of the figure, the hand is closed into a fist and is holding what looks like a pouch, or money bag. The left arm runs down the side of the body and is also bent at the elbow resting along the base of the figure. Despite the corrosion on the front face it appears that there are more folds of material, shown by deep grooves, but its is unclear what form this garment takes and whether the lower left hand is holding anything or not.

This reclining figurine is similar in its pose to another example from Mildenhall, Suffolk (MNL 142) and can be closely paralleled for one excavated at Usk (Webster 1995, pp 47-49) and recovered from a pre-Flavian context. Webster argues that the artistic treatment of the figure is deliberately archaic and inspired by Greek two-dimensional vessel mounts and believes the Usk figurine stood, with other figures, on the rim of a vessel associated with the serving of wine. Similar figures have been found in Richborough (Bushe-Fox 1949, pp 138) and recorded on the PAS from Langstone Parish in the County of Newport, Wales, see find NMGW-F4A3F6, and from the Isle of Wight, see SF-2F7DD1.