Oil Ampulla in the Form of a Dancing Bear
This little bear probably held perfumeThis curious little creature with a thick, furry coat was made in Roman times. It is a bear-perhaps one of the Lucanian bears that were native to Italy. The hollow, cast bronze sculpture probably served as a perfume or scent container, called an ampulla. It may have held bear fats or oils. Many Mediterreanean cultures believe these sbtances to be good for the treatment of hair problems, including baldness.
Exhibitions of animals were very popular in ancient RomeAlmost everyone has heard of Roman spectacles involving bloody fights of animals against animals, animals against men, and staged hunts. Few are aware that Roman's also enjoyed shows of tamed beasts trained to perform amusing antics.
Archaeological evidence of a troupe of performing bears can be seen in a mosaic from Tunisia. In this mosaic the bears are even identified by name.
At the time the CMA bear sculpture was created, animal shows sometimes included bears acting out mime. We can wonder whether the model for our bear might have been a performing animal or someone's exotic pet.
A Macedonian proverb states that a captured bear will dance for its captorsWild and tame bears were kept in collections of exotic animals in imperial menageries. If sufficiently tamed and trained, they were even allowed into Roman living rooms. It is said that Nero kept tame lions and bears at his palace, the Golden House, in the center of Rome. And the short-lived Roman Emperor, Elagabalus was said to let his bears wander into his guests' bedrooms at night, much to their surprise and amazement. Ancient writers such as Seneca [The Elder or the Younger?],
Marcus Valerius Martialis, the Roman poet (ca. 41 AD - 103 AD) and Aelian, the 2nd century Greek rhetorician, have recorded many stories about bears-including Natural Histories, which codified as many facts as tall tales.
An ancient tall tale about baby bearsAelian, the 2nd century AD Greek rhetorician, relates the folk legend about how a bear cub is born a shapeless lump, only a bit bigger than a mouse, without eyes or hair. The mother bear licks the mass into the proper shape of a cub, smoothing it with her tongue and little by little bringing it into shape over a period of 14 days. Exhausted, the mother then falls asleep for three months. This idea was widely dispersed and genuinely believed by many in Europe until about the 17th century. Shakespeare borrowed this folk belief and incorporated it into his play Henry VI.