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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps
@chapps.bsky.social
3.4K followers 350 following 4.4K posts
Former tech drone, living in L.A. I now create digital reconstructions of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. No, really. 🏳️‍🌈 Flickr account (museum photos, mainly, free to use and high res): https://www.flickr.com/photos/125386285@N02/
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · Nov 11
FYI, to anyone interested, I upload all of my high res photos to my Flickr account where they’re organized into albums and tagged with keywords, so they’re easy to search. All free to use, with credit. www.flickr.com/photos/chapp...

I’ll eventually upload my reconstructions! 🏺
Screen cap of my Flickr Photostream. Labeled ‘Stephen Chappell (aka Chapps)’, at the moment I took the pic, it included things like a terracotta figurine of two girls playing ephedrismos, a bronze Roman cavalry parade helmet, a gold Ptolemaic coin, an Egyptian faience vase, etc.
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1h
These portraits of men with ‘Suebian knots’ came to mind a couple of weeks ago when I was at the #BritishMuseum. Here’s a small polychrome terracotta mask depicting a blonde Germanic tribesman with this hairstyle.

flic.kr/p/2rzjqnQ
Polychrome terracotta mask of an ancient German tribesman wearing a Suebian knot
Polychrome (painted) terracotta mask of a member of a German tribe, with a 'Suebian knot' of blond hair above his right ear. Roman historian Tacitus reports in Germania (98 CE) that the Suebian warr...
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1h
Just as I was posting this as a likely votive object on my Flickr account, the RIB site confirms that’s the prevailing view. But confusion as to the ‘Augusta’ name, proper for a goddess (but none is known with that name), and no known Roman warship known with this name. 🤷‍♂️ 🏺

flic.kr/p/2rzrKec
Votive model of a Roman ship
This small bronze model of a Roman galley - probably a votive offering - is a distillation of an entire ship. At the top left, we see the head and neck of a goose or swan, a figurehead that is frequ...
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 2h
p.s. I wondered how the BM could differentiate between a dog and a wolf - the latter being somewhat on point for a Roman - but then I saw the broad collar. That certainly says hunting or guard dog.
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 2h
Ha - very glad that I could finally add something to your collection. I really do wonder how this small item functioned. Something to put onto the household shrine and ask the gods to protect? Purely funerary, taking the ship - in condensed form - into the afterlife?
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 2h
Of all the least surprising things … that is still incredibly depressing and angering. My country is in such trouble, and for the first time in my life, I’m not sure what kind of future I can have here. After 400 years, last of my family here?
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 4h
But … they sound nice.
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 11h
Oh, and a high res photo of this dwarf Silenos can be viewed and downloaded on my Flickr account ... 🏺

flic.kr/p/2rzg9uU
Bronze figurine of Silenos
Bronze figurine of Silenos, Dionysos-Bacchus’ companion, with the proportions of a dwarf. He’s bald, and bearded, with an ivy-leaf wreath around his oversized head. He gathers his cloak tightly about ...
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 11h
Perhaps it's a model that shows the actual features of a navis actuaria, a trading galley, with a mashup of the prow and stern? A good luck charm? The niello letters can be read (in reverse on this side), but the decorations below ... a palm frond, a bird, and what else? 🤷‍♂️

#BritishMuseum 📸 me
Same photo and description as the first post in this thread. Description: Bronze prow or stern of an ancient Roman ship. The goose or swan neck and head is at the top, which would normally be on the stern of a galley - the rear. But at the bottom, projecting out from the keel, is a dog-headed ram, which should be at the prow - the front - of the galley. A mashup, perhaps, of an actual galley, perhaps one that plied the Mediterranean as a trading ship? In niello - a composite black metal - are letters at the top which read, in Latin, 'Amilla Augusta, the Fortunate'. Niello decorations are at the bottom, difficult to make out against the corroded metal, but it seems to be a victory palm, a bird, and something else ... British Museum, no date given (1856,0701.29)
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 11h
What an odd little bronze model. It's a Roman galley's prow *and* stern? The usual goose-swan neck from the stern is at top, while a dog-headed ram, which would be affixed to the prow, is at bottom. The inscription reads: AMMILLA AUG FELIX, 'Amilla Augusta the Fortunate'. @sdecasien.bsky.social 🏺🤔
Bronze prow or stern of an ancient Roman ship. The goose or swan neck and head is at the top, which would normally be on the stern of a galley - the rear. But at the bottom, projecting out from the keel, is a dog-headed ram, which should be at the prow - the front - of the galley. A mashup, perhaps, of an actual galley, perhaps one that plied the Mediterranean as a trading ship? In niello - a composite black metal - are letters at the top which read, in Latin, 'Amilla Augusta, the Fortunate'. Niello decorations are at the bottom, difficult to make out against the corroded metal, but it seems to be a victory palm, a bird, and something else ... British Museum, no date given (1856,0701.29)
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 16h
The dogs stole my Uggs!
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d
Just like me! Sunny warm days suddenly interrupted by wind, rain, and cold (not that I mind rainy days, but I need time to adjust).
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d
And here’s a closeup of the aulos player. Truly a wonderful experience seeing one of my favorite mosaics last year (among so many others!).

📸 me
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d
Pride of place - highly appropriate, Pat.
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d
Oops, just saw this. Ha! Just like my Maya. But Staffie mixes always have that thin coat, and no undercoat, so … understandable. Your Lucy has a much thicker coat, but I get the So Cal vibes.
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d
Not enough space to ask - and your pup? (gosh it’s been ages since I’ve seen a doggy post from you)
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d
My boy, Duke, has a super thick coat and could stand in a snowstorm and not notice any difference from a spring day. Waterproof. My poor girl, Maya, goes into a rain coma and I have to pry her off her couch to go outside (and then have to hold the umbrella over her). Staffie hair - almost bald.
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d
Rostrum! 😁
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d
As cold blustery winds herald an incoming storm to Southern California, I’m bundled up like this little bronze Silenos figurine (we share the same hairstyle, in fact). Brrr! 🥶

Bronze, 1st c. CE. #BritishMuseum #Ancientbluesky 🏺
Small bronze figurine of a somewhat dwarf-like Silenos, the bald, bearded elderly companion of the god Dionysos-Bacchus. He’s tightly wrapped up in his himation (cloak), his hands pulling the garment tight around his chest. He wears an ivy wreath around his head and is barefoot. British Museum, London (1824,0480.4)
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d
Us, too! The dogs are all hunkered down and the chilly winds are blowing. Storm a-comin’!
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 3d
The realistic facial features and thick sideburns seen on this figure were characteristics of royal portraiture and many Hellenistic dynasties claimed descent from Herakles to legitimise their authority. 🏺 2/

Byblos, 250-230 BCE.
📸 me #BritishMuseum

flic.kr/p/2rx6fvE
Bronze statuette of Herakles holding apples from the Garden of the Hesperides
Here the hero has accomplished his final labour and holds three of the golden apples guarded by a giant serpent and the nymphs of the Hesperides. These apples were the source of the hero's eternal you...
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 3d
This Hellenistic bronze depicts Herakles after his final Labor, holding the apples of the garden of the Hesperides. This may originally have represented a Hellenistic king in the guise of Herakles - the tree and snake behind him may be modern. 🏺 1/

@heraklescitharede.bsky.social

📸 me
This bronze group depicts a well-muscled Herakles after accomplishing his final labor, heroically naked, standing contrapposto, and holding three of the golden apples in his left hand (which are guarded by a giant serpent hanging from a tree behind him). These apples were the source of the hero's eternal youth and Herakles' own passport to eternal life: the only hero to become a god. Originally the figure might have represented a Hellenistic king in the guise of Herakles. The realistic facial features and thick sideburns were characteristics of royal portraiture and many Hellenistic dynasties claimed descent from Herakles to legitimise their authority. The tree with the serpents and the base are probably a modern addition. Hellenistic, Byblos (historic Phoenicia), from a temple (which one?), Lebanon, ca. 250-230 BCE. Height: 0.76 meters (2.49 feet) Weight: 37 kg (81.6 lbs.) British Museum, London (1805,0703.38)
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 4d
Ah, I saw that guy's little cousin at the Art Institute of Chicago. Must read that article ... flic.kr/p/2r7APWZ
Bronze statuette of an archer or warrior from Sardinia
This and the statuette of a gift giver (see other upload) were created on the island of Sardinia, located off the west coast of Italy. While the figures' intended purpose is unclear, each one's unique...
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 4d
And everybody says that archaeology is glamorous ...
chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 4d
Little Flavius went home with this souvenir to remind him of the wonderfully gruesome death of the gladiator Maximus that he witnessed that day ... Truly the best of all worlds. 😳
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chapps.bsky.social
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 4d
Oh, without a doubt.
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