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Branch with birds

    • Provenienza:
      Pompeii, House of M. Fabius Rufus (Ins. Occ. VII 16, 22)
    • Data:
      1st century AD
    • Materiali:
      Bronze
    • Dimensioni:
      height 26 cm, width 10.5 cm, depth 8 cm
    • Collocazione:
      Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei
    • Inventario:
      inv. 14142
  • Branch with birds

This find, unparalleled in the Vesuvian area, was probably part of a refined larger object belonging to the owner of the rich abode. It has recently been suggested that the branch formed part of one of the mechanical trees operated by air and water that are mentioned by sources and a precise description of which appears in Hero of Alexandria (Pneumatics, 1, 15; 2, 4.5).