Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 3rd century CE. A massive, heavy, 97% silver bowl, in the form of a mastos or mastoid, a drinking vessel shaped like a breast. This example has a beautifully decorated body, fluted around its exterior, radiating upward to the unpronounced rim from a central nipple-like series of concentric circles on the base. The fluted form, with each wide flute concave and column-like incised motifs between them, makes the vessel incredibly pleasing to hold - your fingers will easily fit into the shallow depressions as you hold it. Size: 5.1" W x 4" H (13 cm x 10.2 cm); silver is 97% pure; total weight is 577.5 grams
The mastos form seems to deliberately be breast-shaped, based on archaeological findings suggesting ritual functions for these cups. Mastoid cups and ceramic votive representations of breasts have been found at sanctuaries to Diana (Artemis) and Hercules throughout the classical world - two figures in classical religion associated with birth, nursing, and rearing children. Fascinatingly, some of these even have dedications made by wet nurses. Some scholars theorize that the drinking of breast milk from a vessel like this one by an elderly or deathly ill adult symbolized rebirth in the afterlife.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-private Santa Barbara, California, USA collection, 1980s
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#149964
Condition
Some areas of pitting on the surface, both interior and exterior. Otherwise in absolutely beautiful condition with a rich patina.