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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1977.216.1986
Title
Basin Handle
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
handle
Date
n.d.
Places
Creation Place: Unidentified Region
Period
Modern
Culture
Unidentified culture
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/286621

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
2.6 x 9.9 cm (1 x 3 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 79.48; Sn, 8.8; Pb, 10.68; Zn, 0.006; Fe, 0.06; Ni, 0.12; Ag, 0.17; Sb, 0.34; As, 0.28; Bi, 0.038; Co, 0.031; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is a thin layer of black with metal visible below. Areas of superficial green are also present. The surface has been deeply scratched with a point and abrasive tools.

This handle could be modern. Decorated areas of the surface are lacking in detail and give the appearance that this piece was cast from a mold taken from an existing object. The handle is fixed rather than hinged, and if attached to the rim of vessel, it would be fixed at an angle of about 30 degrees from horizontal.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, Purchased in Rome
Accession Year
1977
Object Number
1977.216.1986
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 curving attachment plate of this solid basin handle is in the shape of a palmette with raised lines and volutes on the interior. There are two additional long, thin volutes between the plate and the handle portion, which is D-shaped. On the flat portion, there are a series of raised beads and bands; another raised bead with smaller toruses on either side is present on the center of the curved portion of the handle. Similar basin handles, generally dated to the late fourth to third centuries BCE, appear in several other collections (1).


NOTES:

1. See Museo Civico Archeologico Bologna, inv. no. IT 657; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. X.21.125; J. W. Hayes, Greek, Roman, and Related Metalware in the Royal Ontario Museum: A Catalogue (Toronto, 1984) 34-35, no. 40; M. P. Bini, G. Caramella, and S. Buccioli, I bronzi etruschi e romani, Materiali del Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Tarquinia 13 (Rome, 1995) 174, no. 212, pl. 70.2.a-b; and J. M. Turfa, Catalogue of the Etruscan Gallery of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Philadelphia, 2005) 210-11, no. 217 (inv. no. MS 2314).


Lisa M. Anderson

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