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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1920.44.170
Title
Stylized Standing Figure
Other Titles
Former Title: Archaic Figure
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
7th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Orientalizing period
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303826

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
9.5 x 3.2 cm (3 3/4 x 1 1/4 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 91.58; Sn, 7.27; Pb, 0.45; Zn, 0.005; Fe, 0.08; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.1; Sb, 0.06; As, 0.4; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.018; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is a very rough greenish brown overall, interspersed with layers of green malachite and red cuprite corrosion with a brown and black substrate. The figure is missing portions of its arms and legs. The pins in the legs are probably modern. Other details are poorly preserved. The ears have losses, and the tip of the nose is missing; the remainder shows deformation. The figure is a solid cast. Loss of surface detail prevents further observation.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

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
1920.44.170
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This small standing figure features an elongated torso, crowned by an oval head resting on a thick neck. Facial features include a prominent nose flattened at the tip, rudimentary eyes placed under a brow ridge extending from ear to ear, a short horizontal groove for a mouth, and two slightly projecting ears. The ears appear to have been perforated, perhaps for earrings (1). The arms are broken off below the shoulders but appear to have curved downward. There are two distinct raised, round areas situated on the chest below the armpits that may represent breasts. The legs are missing below the groin. The back broadens and swells slightly, perhaps to indicate the buttocks.

This stylized standing figure, probably female, appears to belong to the eighth to early seventh centuries BCE. It could equally well be at home on Crete (2) or in the Peloponnesus, especially at a sanctuary site like Olympia.

NOTES:

1. For comparison, see also 1990.58, a male figure dating to c. 700-670 BCE, with perforated ears that hold earrings.

2. On copper alloy human statuettes from Crete, see U. Naumann, Subminoische und protogeometrische Bronzeplastik auf Krete (Berlin, 1976); and E. Sapouna-Sakellarakis, Die bronzenen Menschenfiguren auf Kreta und in der Ägäis, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 1.5 (Stuttgart, 1995).


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