Bronze torch-holder

Etruscan

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 170

Numerous examples of such objects have been found in tombs of Etruscan warriors, and scholars have debated their function. Most thought that they were hooks for retrieving meat from cooking vessels. But the engraved mirror, 96.18.15, displayed in the mirror case shows a figure using the object as a torch-holder. The utensils may have been supplied to soldiers for use on night missions and later became part of their funerary equipment.

Bronze torch-holder, Bronze, Etruscan

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