STATUARIA ROMANA ANTICA: table support from Campania -- marble trapezophoros -- Rogers Fund, 1913.

Speranza

Marble trapezophoros (table support)
Period: Late Republican
Date: 1st century B.C.
Culture: Roman
Medium: Marble
Dimensions: width 128.9cm
Classification: Stone Sculpture
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1913
Accession Number:
1913.115.1

This marble trapezophoros is one of a pair of supports for a large tabletop that probably stood in the atrium of a wealthy family’s house.


Its two sides are finely carved with grape vines and floral sprays issuing from acanthus fronds that bring to mind the intricate vegetal designs on public monuments of the Augustan age, notably the panels with acanthus and swan reliefs on the Ara Pacis Augustae in
Rome. At either end of the support, the head and torso of a winged griffin emerge from a feline leg. They form a striking contrast to the delicate floral decoration with their deep relief and powerful musculature, thereby solidly grounding what must have been a monumental piece of furniture.
References
Richter, Gisela M.A. 1914. "Department of Classical Art Accessions 1913." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 9(3): pp. 60, 65, fig. 8.

Richter, Gisela M. A. 1917. Handbook of the Classical Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 257, fig. 159.

Richter, Gisela M. A. 1926.
Ancient Furniture: A History of Roman Furniture. Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 141, fig. 335.

Richter, Gisela M. A. 1927. Handbook of the Classical Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 310 11, fig. 221.

Richter, Gisela M.A. 1930. Handbook of the Classical Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 310-11, fig. 221.

Richter, Gisela M. A. and Christine Alexander. 1939. Augustan Art: An Exhibition Commemorating the Bimillenium of the Birth of Augustus. New York: Marchbanks Press, p. 15, fig. 39.

Richter, Gisela M. A. 1966. The Furniture of the Romans. London: Phaidon Press, p. 113, fig. 579.

Thimme, Jürgen. 1976. Kunst und Kultur der Kykladeninseln im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr.: Ausstellung unter d. Patronat des International Council of Museums ICOM im Karlsruher Schloss vom 25. Juni 10. Oktober 1976. Karlsruhe: Müller, no. 81, p. 111

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1987. Greece and Rome. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 81, p. 111.

Milleker, Elizabeth J., ed. 2000. The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 23, pp. 42, 205.

Picón, Carlos A., et al. 2007. Art of the Classical World in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 406, pp. 352, 485-86.