Handle

Pair of solid cast horizontal handles originally soldered to the rim of a basin, with the handles projecting above the rim. Cast from two different prototypes (plates of one handle are slightly larger and farther apart). The handles are rectangular in outline, squared in section with rounded edges, with beaded ridges along the four edges. A heavy ovolo band joins handle and attachment plates, which are in the shape of a sharp edged, pendant volute & palmette. The back surface of the plates is concave and rough, with a sharp depression where the basin rim would have been joined. Intact except for corrosion and pitting. Turfa observes that handles of this design probably were used on shallow basins of the 5th century BC. The basins would have been of beaten bronze and, like so many other vases, have not survived interment.Basins in this period were used as part of the wine service, presumably for mixing water and wine, instead of the Greek krater.