Knucklebone player

Roman, 1stC-2ndC

Audio guide stop 114 · Room 2

• Audio guide stop: 114
• Gallery: Room 2
• Culture: Roman
• Date: 1stC-2ndC
• Object type: statue
• Materials: marble
• Museum number: 1805,0703.13
• Museum: The British Museum
• Collection record: British Museum website
• Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

About this object

Before you is a Roman marble statue of a young girl, thought to represent a nymph or classical deity connected with Artemis/Diana. The figure is delicately carved, seated in a relaxed pose with draped clothing that follows the natural contours of her body. Her elegant posture and serene facial expression reflect the classical ideals of grace and harmony.

This statue, known as the "Knucklebone player," was originally part of a pair—its companion now resides in Hanover. The original findspot was the Vigna Verospi area near Rome. The figure’s head, hands, and feet were skillfully restored in the 18th century by renowned sculptor Angellini.

Purchased in 1805 from the collection of Peregrine Edward Towneley, this work captures the spirit of Roman artistry, inspired by earlier Greek forms. It was once displayed as part of an elegant garden setting, perhaps near ancient villa ruins. The statue was admired as a fountain nymph by one 18th-century observer, illustrating its timeless beauty and enduring appeal.

See it in person

Knucklebone player is on display in Room 2 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 114, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.

New, in beta. British Museum support has just launched and is still improving: over 1,000 objects so far, with more added all the time.

More from Room 2, The British Museum

• 

  Kava-bowl

  Hawaii

  18thC(mid)-18thC late (before 1778)

• 

  Painting of Sir Hans Sloane

  Attributed to John Vanderbank

  18thC(early)

• 

  Jewellery and box

• 

  The Tudor Heart

  England

  1515-1520 (CHAIN: Type first documented from the mid-15th-century onwards in the visual arts of the Burgundian Netherlands and Iberia. CLASP: Design based on device of Basle-based printer Johann Froben, developed by Hans Holbein the Younger first used in via Erasmus’s Novum Instrumentum (1516) and popularised in England via Thomas More’s Epigrammata (editions of March and December 1518). PENDANT: The heart-shaped pendant with twisted wire border documented in early 16th-century manuscript illustrations from Flanders; letters H and K, heraldic Tudor roses and pomegranates, relate the piece to King Henry VIII and his first wife Katherine of Aragon (m. 1509); first known use of entwined roses and pomegranates emerging from single stem is 1511; motto TOUS IORS not yet located, but the spelling found in contemporary Henrician sources. Katherine exiled from Henry’s court in 1531, marriage annulled in 1533. SCIENCE: Analysis puts the making of the clasp and pendant before about 1530. SUITE: The objects were discovered together as a suite and appear to be broadly contemporaneous; a combination of the hand-and-cloud, entwined branch, letters H&K, knots and heart motifs is documented in use on the third day of jousting at Greenwich in October 1518 in tournament staged to celebrate Treaty of Universal Peace (also known as the Treaty of London, a non-aggression and mutual aid pact between 20 European countries against perceived threat of Ottoman Empire) and betrothal of Princess Mary (2 years) to French dauphin (8 months). This may explain TOUS IORS, which not only means always in French, but fuses French (tous) with English (yours) in an aural pun.)

Keep exploring

• British Museum highlights
• Free British Museum audio guide
• British Museum audio guide stop numbers
• British Museum visitor guide
• Free things to do at the British Museum
• Browse all artists