Statuette of Daphne

This grotesque object was surely never intended to have a practical function - although the nymph's body from the waist upwards can be removed and the hollow lower part could, in theory, be used as a vessel. However, the statuette should be seen as an artistically and intellectually ambitious piece of goldsmith sculpture. It tells the story recounted by the classical poet Ovid of the nymphe Daphne who transformed herself into a bay tree to escape the approaches of god Apollo.