Etruscan Bronze Torch Holder in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 2010

Title: Bronze torch-holder

Medium; Technique: Bronze

Culture: Etruscan

Period: Classical

Date: late 5th century B.C.

Dimensions: Other: 10 13/16 in. (27.5 cm)

Classification: Bronzes

Credit Line: Purchase, 1896

Accession Number: 96.9.375


Description:

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.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/greek_...