Tabula ansata

A tabula ansata or tabella ansata (Latin for tablet with handles, plural tabulae ansatae or tabellae ansatae) is a tablet with dovetail handles. It was a favorite form for votive tablets in Imperial Rome.

Tabulae ansatae identifying soldiers' units have been found on the tegimenta (leather covers) of shields, for example in Vindonissa (Windisch, Switzerland). Sculptural evidence, for example on the metopes from the Tropaeum Traiani (Adamclisi, Romania), shows that they were also used for the same purpose on the shields.

Tabulae ansatae have been used by modern artists as early as the 15th century, as shown on the tomb of Charles, Count of Maine attributed to Francesco Laurana, in Le Mans Cathedral. The Statue of Liberty is holding one such tablet on which "July 4th 1776" is inscribed using Roman numerals.

tabulae ansatae on soldier shields, metope from the Tropaeum Traiani, Archaeological Museum of Istanbul

tabula ansata on the attic of the arch of Dativius Victor in Mainz

tabulae ansatae carried on sticks on the Arch of Titus

tabula ansata carried on a stick on the Triumphs of Caesar by Andrea Mantegna

Tabula ansata on a mosaic in Ostia Antica

Tabula ansata on George Bancroft's bookplate

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