2012.256: Three Recumbent Animals on a Plaque
SculptureIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2012.256
- Title
- Three Recumbent Animals on a Plaque
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Work Type
- sculpture
- Date
- 9th-7th century BCE
- Places
- Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
- Period
- Iron Age
- Culture
- Near Eastern
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/343020
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Bronze
- Technique
- Cast, lost-wax process
- Dimensions
- 5.5 x 5.7 x 4.9 cm (2 3/16 x 2 1/4 x 1 15/16 in.)
- Technical Details
-
Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, iron
K. Eremin, January 2014Technical Observations: The rough and corroded surfaces are mostly green, with areas of exposed underlying red. A gray resinous repair material is present between the fore limbs and the base, between the hindquarters and the base, and between the heads of the center and proper left animals. Although these could be fills for small losses, it is probable that the animals were broken from their base, or parts of the base, and later reattached. All surfaces of the assemblage match each other closely in texture, color, and corrosion products, and the join areas are small; the group does not appear to be a modern assemblage.
The group is a solid cast. Although little surface detail is preserved, the irregularity and freely modeled nature of the shapes points to the use of a direct technique, forming the model directly in wax. The simple shapes probably received little or no surface decorations, although there may have been some added details on the heads of the animals that are now obscured by corrosion products.
Henry Lie (submitted 2013)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- Robert Owen Lehman, London (by 1966), gift; to Nicholas A. Grace, Marion, MA, (1966 - 2012), gift; to The Harvard Art Museums, 2012.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Nicholas A. Grace in honor of his late father, Frederick Randolph Grace
- Accession Year
- 2012
- Object Number
- 2012.256
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
-
Three quadrupeds rest on top of a more or less rectangular plaque. The animals are virtually identical. They are alert, with the head raised and pointing forwards; the legs are bent and extend to the edges of the plaque. The animals have flat and broad tails, somewhat pointed muzzles, ears extending sidewards, and short horns or antlers. Due to the corrosion, it is difficult to determine their species with certainty, but they resemble deer, or perhaps goats. The underside of the plaque is uneven; at its center is a tang of roughly square section.
Green patina over red; with a spot of turquoise underneath.
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