ANCIENT ROMAN SILVER FERTILITY AMULET WITH FIST AND PHALLUS
Rare wearable Artefact
Size - 3 cm
Phallic emblems are found on a wide range of Roman objects, from amulets to frescoes, from mosaics to lamps. Such pendants were a symbol of fertility, as well as performing an apotropaic function.
The Ancient Romans had a rich religious pantheon, that included over 200 gods. One of the lesser known ones today – although he was quite popular with contemporary Ancient Romans – was Fascinus, the winged penis god. Fascinus was literally all penis, taken to the nth degree of penis-hood: his body was an erect penis and testicles, sporting an erect penis, with a penis for a tail, and penises for legs. And he had wings, so he could fly around and spurt his blessings upon lucky mortals.
Age: 200-400 AD
Provenance: Previously in a large British private collection of an ancient jewellery expert, formed prior to 2000