LARGE ANTIQUE KEY KNOWN AS THE "KEY OF TARARE in iron and bronze. The barrel has a circular and the bit has two back-to-back iron with two back-to-back iron bolts. The handle of the key is particularly remarkable: made entirely of bronze, it depicts Silenus seated on a wineskin, holding the neck with his right hand. with his right hand, his eyes inlaid with silver and his nipples inlaid with copper. His left hand holds a bunch of grapes. The group is standing on a large crater with a squared body and two handles (one missing). Gallo-Roman period. Lyonnais Gaul, 2nd century AD Total length: 25.9 cm - Handle height: 12.8 cm Bit: 9 cm (Oxidation, wear and missing) PROVENANCE - Discovered in a vineyard on the mountain of Tarare (Rhône, France) in the 19th century. - Collection of Madame Napolier in Tarare (Rhône, France). - Universal Exhibition of 1867 (no. 865). - By inheritance to this day. BIBLIOGRAPHY - An antique key" in Le Magasin Pittoresque, 1867. Reproduced on page 384. - F. Liger, La ferronerie ancienne et moderne, Tome II, Paris 1875. Reproduced plate 41. - E.-O. Lami, Dictionnaire encyclopédique et biographique, Tome III, Paris 1883. Reproduced page 516. - H.-R. d'Allemagne, La Serrurerie ancienne à Exposition Universelle de 1900, Saint-Cloud, 1902. P. 18.