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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1994.58
Title
Warrior
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Male Warrior
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statuette
Date
early 7th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Thessaly
Period
Orientalizing period
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/300001

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded copper
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
11.6 x diam. (of base) 4.2 cm (4 9/16 x 1 5/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Copper:
Cu, 72.9; Sn, 1.03; Pb, 25.82; Zn, 0.004; Fe, less than 0.01; Ni, 0.03; Ag, 0.03; Sb, 0.02; As, 0.18; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: Overall, the patina is compact and light green. After excavation, the edge of the circular base has been incised with a narrow scratch line through the thin corrosion surface to the metal. There is a break in the torso all the way around the body. It is not clear whether this is a crack caused by casting or whether two broken halves of the figure were reassembled in recent times.

The figure and base were cast in one piece, with casting flaws at the top of the head and on the legs, feet, and base. Traces of modeling in the wax survive at the groin and on the interior of the thighs. Most surfaces appear to have been refined and smoothed with files after casting. Especially obvious are the file marks from the flattening of the base surface between and around the feet. The beard and eyebrows were incised in the copper with a small chisel, in closely spaced vertical blows. The ears and both hands were pierced with a circular punch. This work was carried out after the smoothing, as the small curled edges of displaced metal are still visible. The hole in the proper right hand is filled with a stub of copper, the only element on which red corrosion products are evident. There is a wire loop in each ear piercing; the wire is faceted, appears hand formed, and is of a dark color, with only small areas of light green corrosion products.


Tony Sigel (submitted 1999)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Nanette Rodney Kelekian
Accession Year
1994
Object Number
1994.58
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
This nude male figure stands on a circular base. His knees are bent, and his left leg is advanced slightly ahead of the right. His short, flipper-like arms are extended horizontally from his shoulders and bent forward slightly. The right arm still holds the end of a separately cast metal rod inserted through a perforation. The left arm, while perforated in the same way, retains nothing in its perforation. The right arm projects farther forward than the left. The figure’s torso is minimally modeled, with indications of a diaphragm, from which a ridge extends downward to the genitalia. A vertical groove running from the shoulders to the middle of the back indicates the spinal column. The buttocks are small rounded protrusions, separated by a deep groove. The shinbones are sharp ridges that extend to the tops of the ankles. The feet end in points, suggesting that the figure may have been represented as wearing shoes. A short penis projects downward and is set off by marked grooves along the groin to either side. The large head has prominent, detailed features, including narrow oval eyes that slant downward at the outer corners, and under-brow ridges that display fine parallel incisions. A pointed chin, marked by fine vertical incisions, widens out to grooves in front of the ears. The ears project as rounded rectangular tabs, which are perforated. Both perforations contain circular earrings (1). A blade-like projection extends from the back of the head and hangs down to the base of the neck.

The modeling of the body and of the arms, as well as the large and unusually detailed head, finds its closest analogies in human bronze statuettes from Thessaly from the last quarter of the eighth century through the first half of the seventh century BCE (2). While the figure is clearly modeled in the northern Geometric fashion, the large head with its detailed facial features places it toward the end of that tradition. Therefore, a date between 700 and 670 BCE seems likely. The circular base is unusual; its presence suggests that the figure may have been mounted on top of a larger object, such as the lid of a cauldron.

NOTES:

1. See also 1920.44.170, a Greek Iron Age figure with perforated ears that must originally have held earrings of this type.

2. For Thessalian Geometric bronze statuettes, see C. H. Biesantz, Die thessalischen Grabreliefs (Mainz, 1965); and J. Christiansen, Greece in the Geometric Period, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (Copenhagen, 1992) 56 and 58-60, nos. 20 and 22-24. On the Geometric Greek warrior, see M. Byrne, The Greek Geometric Warrior Figurine: Interpretation and Origin, Archaeologia Transatlantica 10 (Providence, 1991). For similar figures, see I. Kilian-Dirlmeier, Kleinfunde aus dem Athena Itonia-Heiligtum bei Philia (Thessalien) (Mainz, 2002) nos. 1006-1008, pl. 180.


Tamsey K. Andrews and David G. Mitten

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