Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, iron, silver, antimony, arsenic
K. Eremin, January 2014
Technical Observations: The areas of exposed metal surface are smooth and range in color from cupritic reddish brown to dark blackish green. Much of the object is covered by a thin, matte layer of green and tan corrosion and burial accretions. Some of the struts of the bell are damaged, and it no longer encloses the object that caused it to rattle.
The object was cast in one piece by the direct lost-wax process. The waxy feel of the original model is well preserved even though the metal surface is quite worn. The loop was formed from a rolled and bent section of wax; the eyes and nose were created by placing small blobs of wax onto the faces on either side of the object; the ears were made from slightly flattened balls of wax. The cage-shaped bell of the body was probably modeled directly in the wax rather cursorily over a small, rounded piece of refractory clay, as possibly indicated by the jagged edges of the struts.
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)
