Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum | Bush-Reisinger Museum | Arthur M. Sackler Museum

Object Number

1995.39

Title

Head of a Lynx with Open Mouth

Classification

Sculpture

Work Type

sculpture

Date

1st-3rd century

Places

Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia

Period

Roman Imperial period

Culture

Roman

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/302057

Medium

Leaded bronze

Technique

Cast, lost-wax process

Dimensions

3.7 x 4.3 x 4.2 cm (1 7/16 x 1 11/16 x 1 5/8 in.)

Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 90.05; Sn, 6.82; Pb, 2.66; Zn, 0.005; Fe, 0.14; Ni, 0.05; Ag, 0.04; Sb, 0.22; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.01; 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, antimony
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina is reddish brown. The object is a hollow cast, and remnants of core material are present. Most of the fine incised lines depicting fur appear to have been made in the wax model. There are long striations between the high relief hair on the top of the head. A punch was used on the cast metal inside the ears and at the back of the neck. There are also cold-working marks inside the mouth. The uneven finishing of the eye sockets suggests they originally held inlays that have not survived.


Tracy Richardson (submitted 1999)

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Nanette B. Rodney

Accession Year

1995

Object Number

1995.39

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Henry Lie and Francesca Bewer, "Ex Aere Factum: Technical Notes on Ancient Bronzes", Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes, ed. Susanne Ebbinghaus, Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2014), 38-63, pp. 55-56, fig. 2.12.

Susanne Ebbinghaus, ed., Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes, Harvard Art Museum/Yale University Press (Cambridge, MA, 2014), pp. 56, 66, fig. 2.12

32Q: 3440 Near East, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 11/16/2016

Google Art Project

Ancient Bronzes

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