An extremely fine and well-preserved Ancient Roman cast bronze handle, which may have once belonged to a patera. The handle is modelled in the shape of a fluted column shaft, ending in a ram’s head finial with scrolled horns. The animal’s facial features are rendered in a naturalistic manner, with fine details such as the texture of the wool carefully incised. The base of the handle, where it would have attached to the body of the vessel, is a curved sheet of metal with symmetric projections, decorated in a raised vegetal design. The handle sits upon a custom made stand. Condition: MIneral deposits. Part of the right horn missing, otherwise intact in good condition. Provenance. French Auction House. Formerly french private collection. Expertized by Antoine Tarantino ( Galerie Tarantino, Paris ). Notes: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. The piece is in process of obtaining Spanish Export License ( Passport for European Union). This process can take between 2 and 4 weeks. - If the piece goes outside the European Union a new export license will be requested by us, This process can take beteen 1 and 2 months. According to Spanish legislation, items sent outside the European Union are subject to export taxes and will be added to the invoice, at the buyer's expense. These export fees are fixed on the final auction price and the tax rate is not applied directly on the total value of the item to be exported, but rather the different percentages by sections are applied to it: - Up to 6,000 euros: 5%./ From 6.001 to 60.000 euros: 10%. - Shipped with Insurance.