Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded bronze:
Cu, 83.55; Sn, 10.31; Pb, 5.7; Zn, 0.216; Fe, 0.03; Ni, 0.08; Ag, 0.05; Sb, 0.04; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.015; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer
Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Leaded Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead
Other Elements: iron, nickel
K. Eremin, January 2014
Chemical Composition:
Lead Isotope Analysis (Pb, 5.7%):
Pb206/Pb204, 18.570; Pb207/Pb204, 15.934; Pb208/Pb204, 39.358; Pb, 207/Pb206, 0.858; Pb 208/Pb206, 2.120
P. Degryse
Technical Observations: The patina is dark, transparent green with underlying metal slightly visible that may be modern color that developed after the surface was cleaned. Patches of a thick, red cuprite layer and a green corrosion layer are present in many areas and are convincing evidence of long-term burial. In 2013, a sample was drilled from the inner side of the right arm near the shoulder and revealed a significant cuprite layer that was not entirely visible on the surface.
The legs and feet below the knees are modern cast bronze restorations. Small ridges in some areas of the original corrosion layers are the result of the original cleaning, which appears to have been accomplished by scraping. A later cleaning in 1970, done to reveal details of the face, exposed bright metal that is now inpainted.
The bronze is solid cast, probably by a lost-wax technique. There is no indication that the wax model was cast or entirely formed directly in the wax. If an indirect technique was used to cast the model, the fine detail in the head and torso were likely refined by working directly on the surface of the wax cast. Larger locks of the figure’s hair appear to be modeled in the wax; finer incised lines on the locks are cold worked into the surface of the bronze cast. Circular depressions to the left and right side of each eye, which were exposed in the 1970 cleaning of the head, serve to define the shape of the eyeball. The condition of the surface around the eyes makes it impossible to say whether these features were made in the bronze or in the wax model. Although they have been described as “drill holes,” there is no visual evidence that a drilling process was involved. A slight depression behind the copious locks of hair at the periphery could have once held a fillet, wreath, or crown, but the contour is so faint that it is equally possible that no such element existed, and no means of attachment for such a component is visible. The hole in the left hand for the lance is open at both ends. It is plugged at the center with what appears to be burial accretions.
Henry Lie (submitted 2001, updated 2013)