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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1920.44.226
Title
Lid Decorated with Two Horse Heads
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
cover
Date
7th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Amlash (Iran)
Period
Iron Age
Culture
Iranian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303668

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
2.6 x 2.6 x 2.3 cm (1 x 1 x 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 95.66; Sn, 2.97; Pb, 0.31; Zn, 0.193; Fe, 0.17; Ni, 0.02; Ag, 0.05; Sb, 0.06; As, 0.57; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, zinc, iron, silver, antimony, arsenic

K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina features brown deposits over various green and blue corrosion products, below which red cuprite is partially visible. There is one area of brownish-black metallic surface on the back of one of the horse heads. There are losses around the lower edge of the rim, and little detail is preserved on the surface.

The oval lid was probably made in one piece by the lost-wax process. The metal is slightly thicker at the base of the horse heads, but there is no preserved evidence of a join there. The projection of the top of the lid over the side of the lid suggests that the side of lid would have fit inside the rim of the vessel for which it was made. Careful removal of some surface corrosion reveals ancient rough tool marks from finishing after casting.

This object might be related to 1969.177.14, but there is no physical evidence that links them together with complete certainty. They may have been assembled together by a dealer.


Carol Snow and Henry Lie (submitted 2002, updated 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Miss Elizabeth Gaskell Norton, Boston, MA and Miss Margaret Norton, Cambridge, MA (by 1920), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1920.

Note: The Misses Norton were daughters of Charles Elliot Norton (1827-1908).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Misses Norton
Accession Year
1920
Object Number
1920.44.226
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
The top of this oblong lid is decorated with two opposing horse heads. The lid is flat and undecorated on the top, with a rim around the edge, straight and thin, and beveled in slightly from the top. It is concave on the underside with two holes under the area where the horse heads are, penetrating up to the top behind the horses’ necks. The horse heads are highly stylized and flat, with molded ears, cylindrical muzzles, and raised ridges down the back of the necks to represent manes. The holes through the neck would help attach the lid to a vessel. The lid fits on vessel 1969.177.14; the two pieces may have come to the museum together, with the lid subsequently being separated and mislabeled.

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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