Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 3rd century CE. A remarkable leaded bronze steelyard weight in the form of Minerva - Greek Athena - goddess of wisdom, art, commerce, and military victory, depicted in her military guise, donning a Corinthian helmet adorned by a seated griffin and fabulous feathered plume. Her beautiful visage is comprised of almond-shaped eyes, a flat nose, slightly-parted lips, and smooth cheeks, topped by a centrally-parted wavy coiffure. She wears an aegis with snakeskins crossing a pleated swag over her chest, as she holds a shield at her left side. Her right arm curves in front of her to touch her shield. Size: 2.4" W x 4.6" H (6.1 cm x 11.7 cm); 6.1" H (15.5 cm) on included custom stand.

Regarded as the daughter of Jupiter, from whose head she allegedly was born, Minerva was initially worshipped in Rome as one of the Capitoline Triad along with Jupiter and Juno. At first, she was revered as the goddess of handicrafts, poetry, and the arts in general. Over time, Minerva's stature grew within the Roman pantheon, and she became the most important focus of the Quinquatrus festival, which previously had been the domain of Mars, whose amorous affections she famously refused. The five-day festival began on March 19th marking the beginning of the Roman army's campaign season. Minerva also became associated with the concept of victory, as illustrated by Pompey's dedication of a temple to her following his successful campaigns in the east. Similarly, Emperor Domitian claimed the goddess as his protectress and in the second half of the 1st century CE commissioned a temple to her in the Nerva Forum in Rome.

A steelyard (statera) balance consisted of a rectangular beam with rounded, conical terminals, two short, hanging chains ending in large hooks for hanging goods, and a sliding loop with a dangling chain for attaching a weight like this one. The face of the beam was sectioned using incised lines to mark the weight. Steelyard balances were used to weigh loads by moving a counterweight along the beam until it balanced and then reading the incised numeral. Vitruvius describes them and their function in his De Architectura, Book X, 3-4.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private UK collection, assembled from registered dealers in the 1980s to 1990s; ex-Adam Patridge collection, Cheshire, England

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#169048

A few small areas of loss to chest, back of head, and helmet. Loss to front of plume. Expected nicks, chips, abrasions, and softening of detail, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with rich patina.