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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1995.37
Title
Inlay Representing the Upper Torso of a Female Figure
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, relief
Date
early 11th-late 6th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient)
Period
Third Intermediate Period
Culture
Egyptian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/301889

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
5.1 x 6.3 cm (2 x 2 1/2 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina on the front of the object is dark brown with areas of green and red, while the patina on the back is green. The hand is missing at the wrist.

The object is a solid cast and was likely cast in an open mold. File marks from shaping and smoothing are visible in many areas, especially the edges. No remnants of gilding or inlays were found. Linear pseudomorphs are found in the corrosion products on the reverse over the breast area. The casting is very porous.


Tony Sigel (submitted 1999)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Sotheby's, New York, Antiquities and Islamic Works of Art, June 8, 1984, lot 58]. Nanette B. Rodney Kelekian, gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1995.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Nanette B. Rodney
Accession Year
1995
Object Number
1995.37
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The elegant copper alloy inlay depicts a female figure with a small breast in profile. She faces to the right and extends one arm in front of her face. Excised areas in the place of her dress strap and broad collar would have held colored inlays. The piece is intact except for her hand. A different material would have completed the figure, including her wig and headdress, and the entirety would have been set into a backing, perhaps of wood. The delicate, almond-shaped eye with its extended cosmetic line and the pierced earlobe may date this piece in the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1076-725 BCE), although it could be slightly later (1). A similar plaque was found in a bronze hoard from Mit Rahina (Memphis) that includes pieces dating between Dynasties 22 and 26 (2). It is unclear whether she represents a human or divine entity (3).

NOTES:

1. E. Vassilika, Keeper of Antiquities, The Fitzwilliam Museum, pers. comm.

2. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt; see M. G. Daressy, “Une trouvaille de bronze à Mit Rahineh,” Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte 3 (1902): 139-50, pl. 3.4.

3. A similar bronze in the University of Tübingen collection (inv. no. 1146) is identified as a protective goddess; see E. Brunner-Traut and H. Brunner, Die ägyptische Sammlung der Universität Tübingen (Mainz, 1981) 62, pl. 131.


Marian Feldman

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu