I'm stepping things up on this topic, earlier dealt with on the Classics-L list serv.

Every month or so, an item like this and this show up on eBay.

Nobody I have checked with on Classics L and elsewhere have ever heard of such a thing. In August, when I quizzed the seller on the first item via email, all I got for a response was that "there is a similar item in the British Museum." No catalogue number, no scholarly publications cited, no ancient texts attesting to the existence of such a thing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

I am more and more convinced this is a modern artifact being passed off as Roman, counting on duping buyers with bullshit.

So, has anyone ever heard of such a thing being actually documented?