A Marble Table Support with the Figure of Dionysos in the Uşak Museum

Abstract

The subject of this study is a table support (trapezophoros) with the figure of Dionysos in the Uşak Museum. Although the exact findspot of the artifact is unknown, it was produced in accordance with a sculptural tradition that developed within the region of Phrygia during the Roman Imperial period. It is evaluated typologically, iconographically, and stylistically. The relief figure, a version of Apollo Lykeios, the famous sculpture type of the Praxiteles school adapted for Dionysian statues, shows that it closely follows Late Classical and Hellenistic period forms. The trapezophoros, dated to the first half of the 2nd century AD, is decorated with a Dionysus leaning on a thyrsos in his left hand and resting with his right hand extended above his head. The small number of publications on sculptural artifacts presumed to have come from Uşak and its environs demonstrates the importance of this study. The Dionysos trapezophoros from Uşak represents a rare iconographic example among the known examples from Anatolia, with the ivy shoot attached to the monopodial table leg and the god leaning on the thyrsos in his left hand. It is also a qualified work that contributes to the research on the existence of regional workshops in the study of Roman luxury furniture.