Urceo or olpe handle decorated with maenad and satyr. Rome, Cartanyà Well, Tarragona, 1st century AD.

Urceo or olpe handle decorated with maenad and satyr. Rome, Cartanyà Well, Tarragona, 1st century AD.
Bronze.
Provenance: found in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. Private collection, Mr. Morcillo, 19th century, Madrid. Private collection, Antonio Vives Escudero (1859-1925), Madrid. Private collection, M. Peytel, 10 Place Vendôme, Paris, until 2023.
Bibliography: GARCÍA Y BELLIDO, A. (ed.), Álbum de dibujos de la colección de bronces antiguos de Antonio Vives Escudero. Anejos de Archivo Español de Arqueología, XIII. CSIC, 1993. Drawing of silhouette on p. 142, plate 204. ROIG, J.F.; POZO, S.F., "El Pou Cartanyà, novetats de la vaixella de bronze", in Butlletí Arqueològic, V, n.º 43, pp. 79-106. Reial Societat Arqueològica Tarraconense, 2021. Cataloguing with n.º 2.15, fig. 9, on p. 91 and 106.
Documentation: attached pencil drawing from the end of the 19th century, with the handwritten annotation: "1 handle acquired in Madrid from Mr. Morcillo from Tarragona" (fig. 1).
State of preservation: good condition, without restorations; it shows superficial wear. It preserves a beautiful patina.
Measurements: 17 cm high.

This piece is an exceptional testimony of the Roman bronze tableware documented in Tarragona. It is the handle of an urceo or olpe, a vessel used to serve liquids, decorated at its lower end with a Bacchic scene in relief: a maenad and a satyr, figures typical of the procession of Dionysus. The presence of this motif introduces a reading particularly consistent with the original function of the vessel, linked to wine, the banquet and the rituals of sociability of Roman culture.

The artistic interest lies in the sculptural richness concentrated in a functional element. The handle is not limited to serving as a holding piece, but is transformed into a narrative and ornamental support. The lower part preserves a composition of notable dynamism, with figures treated in relief, while the elongated body of the handle presents incised decorative registers that reinforce its verticality and elegance. The dark patina, with metallic and reddish hues, accentuates the depth of the modeling and provides an archaeological presence of great quality.

Pieces such as this one were part of high-level bronze tableware, associated with wealthy domestic environments and representational contexts. In the Roman world, metal vessels were not simply utilitarian objects: their material, decoration and iconography reflected social rank, cultured taste and familiarity with the Greco-Roman mythological repertoire. The Dionysian theme, so appropriate for a service vessel, reinforces the refined and symbolic character of the original set.

Found in Tarragona and documented since the 19th century in important collections, the piece also has an old drawing and specific bibliographical references. This traceability, which is rare in archaeological objects of this type, places it at a particularly outstanding level in the collection of Roman bronzes.

This is a work of high archaeology: not only for its antiquity and material quality, but also for its historical provenance, graphic documentation, Bacchic iconography and conservation without restorations. A fragment of Roman crockery turned into an autonomous object of great historical, aesthetic and collecting power.