Roman Dodecahedron

[Skeptical Greg]

With stuff like this, it's hard to wrap your head around the idea of who made the first one, and what they had in mind.

It's probably not about more accurate time keeping, but who knows?

I'm reminded of George Carlin's "There was a time when no one knew how to play the piano. Everyone was practicing. "

 

[theprestige]

Roman Labubu

 

[zooterkin]

Roman Labubu

Isn't he the left back for PSG?

 

[Ron Swanson]

I had a quick go, there were a couple of models with hinged faces and pegs so they print almost flat, but I was after a quick print so I took a one piece solid model, chopped it in half, printed both sides and glued them together, definitely the way to go for an easy print. I'm afraid the photo isn't great because it's black filament. (Well they claim it's black but really it's really, really, really, really dark blue. The bastards get you every time!)

View attachment 67304

Very Nice!!

 

[Ron Swanson]

I don't think there is. I've thought about starting one a few times. But happy to help if you have any questions I might be able to answer.

In the spring when I get my Printer I'll start a thread if there is not one by that time!!

 

[Ron Swanson]

Why wouldn't they mount the gems directly on to the piece?

Grasping a bit to think not a single stone or mount or even a remnant has never been found.

This is a good point as some were found undisturbed in graves, they often buried expensive items in graves back then ...

 

[Ron Swanson]

Very Nice!!

I remember girls complaining black nail polish is often just really dark blue as well

 

[novaphile]

I had a quick go, there were a couple of models with hinged faces and pegs so they print almost flat, but I was after a quick print so I took a one piece solid model, chopped it in half, printed both sides and glued them together, definitely the way to go for an easy print. I'm afraid the photo isn't great because it's black filament. (Well they claim it's black but really it's really, really, really, really dark blue. The bastards get you every time!)

View attachment 67304

Hmm...

I like your technique, and am now considering printing one myself.

It's a slightly random thought, but I noticed that the 'knitters' using them, rely on a very fiddly pick to lift the loops off the balls.

First thing I want to try, is using the same technique, but using balls that are further away from the active hole, to hold the 'loops'.

That would make it much easier and faster to pick up the loops as required.

 

[Darat]

What would be the point of each hole being a different size?

Perhaps used for sizing slaves?

 

[Andy_Ross]

Hmm...

I like your technique, and am now considering printing one myself.

It's a slightly random thought, but I noticed that the 'knitters' using them, rely on a very fiddly pick to lift the loops off the balls.

First thing I want to try, is using the same technique, but using balls that are further away from the active hole, to hold the 'loops'.

That would make it much easier and faster to pick up the loops as required.

So you would be making something else optimised for knitting.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

I, like other posters in this thread, must have Goggled this. There seem to be a thousand-and-one YouTube videos claiming the mystery has been solved. But I find none convincing.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Most keep repeating that it's Roman when they are found in Celtic regions and not the Roman ' heartlands.

 

[P.J. Denyer]

So you would be making something else optimised for knitting.

I assume they mean using the existing balls but not the ones directly around the hole being used. TBH I find this use entirely unconvincing for the reasons given before but if getting the yarn off the legs is awkward because they're round then that's another argument against it, they'd have just made them pegs instead.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Possibly some of the confusion is that the original device had some function but that later copies become stylized with the original function lost.

 

[Dr.Sid]

Possibly some of the confusion is that the original device had some function but that later copies become stylized with the original function lost.

That makes it even bigger mystery.

 

[novaphile]

So you would be making something else optimised for knitting.

No.

I want to use exactly the same device, in a slightly different manner, to see if the same results can be achieved, without the fiddly needle hook requirement.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

That makes it even bigger mystery.

But it might explain the variations such as ones with no open holes or completely solid.

 

[Shrinker]

My theory is that the initial majority of them were made by a single eccentic/autistic craftsperson who was fascinated by the shape and enjoyed making it over and over. He/she gave them away or exchanged them as curios (they are quite pleasant to look at), and ether they physically spread around like fashionable rarities, and/or they spread like a meme to other craftspeople for a while. The absence of purpose or meaning (except perhaps to that originator) and the brief period during which they were trendy, is why nobody wrote about them.

Supporting evidence: people do weird meaningless stuff for attention, and other people collect baubles for no reason

 

[EHocking]

As probably already suggested, it may well have begun as a task/test set for metalworking apprentices, and then became a collectible gew-gaw.

Much like the endless number of glass torsos created by students or apprentices in Murano.
Unsurprisingly, I can’t find an example of the particular type of piece I’m remembering for sale in every shop window in Venice, I can only find examples for sale that have been advertised as being created by masters.

Which is why I thought that the dodecahedrons may well be apprentice/student piecework required to be created to pass a practical exam, and then just kept or sold as knick knacks.

 

[arthwollipot]

Most keep repeating that it's Roman when they are found in Celtic regions and not the Roman ' heartlands.

The Celtic regions were under Roman occupation at the time.