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Title: Export ban on Roman-era statuette Post by: Neil on April 01, 2011, 03:04:20 PM Courtesy of BBC Online
The government has blocked an attempt to take a rare Roman-era statuette out of the country in the hope a UK buyer will come forward. Experts believe the copper alloy artefact of separate horse and rider could help them understand how Roman and native British cultures interacted. The statuette, which was found in Stow-cum-Quy, Cambridgeshire, sold for £10,200 at auction last May. The statuette was found by a metal detector enthusiast in October 2006 The government imposed an export bar and the search is on for a new buyer. The temporary export ban, which was imposed following advice from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), runs until 6 June. It can be extended to September if a potential UK buyer can prove they can raise the £22,000 the government has set as the recommended price for the statuette. The MLA said the export ban presented "a last chance to raise the money to keep the statuette in the United Kingdom". Very few statuettes of this type are known, and it is thought the piece may have had a religious function. It is approximately 9cm (3.5in) long by 8cm (3.1in) high and dates from the 2nd to 3rd Century AD. Dr Catherine Johns, a member of the MLA Reviewing Committee, said: "This statuette is of outstanding significance for study because it expresses the complex fusion of native and classical elements in the art and religion of Roman Britain." |