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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2023.501.24
Title
Poppy-Headed Pin
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
pin
Date
9th-8th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Luristan (Iran)
Find Spot: Middle East, Iran, Western Iran
Period
Iron Age II-III
Culture
Iranian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303862

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
15.5 x 1.1 cm (6 1/8 x 7/16 in.)
Technical Details

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

K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patinas of these pins (162.1972, 163.1972, 165.1972, 166.1972, and 2004.197) are green or dark green with areas of red. Some burial accretions are present, as are striations and some abrasion marks from cleaning.

Although there is no evidence of mold marks, it is likely that the wax models for these pins were made using a mold to create the spherical finials and the shaft of the pin. The finer incised lines appear soft in shape and were made working directly in the wax models. The ring loop on 163.1972 appears as a soft-shaped circle, probably formed by hand and attached to the wax model. Although the tapered length of the shafts could have been entirely cast in the bronze, it is possible that the taper was refined by hammering in the metal casts.


Henry Lie (submitted 2011)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Kurt H. Weil, Montclair, NJ (1927-1992), by descent; to Kathleen Weil-Garris Brandt, New York (1912-2023), gift; to the Harvard Art Museums.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Professor Kathleen Weil-Garris Brandt
Accession Year
2023
Object Number
2023.501.24
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 pin is more elaborate than 162.1972, and the finial may represent an incipient poppy seedpod. Three incised lines encircle the lower part of the ovoid head, which is topped by a cap shaped as a small flower. The transition from the pin head to the shaft is marked by three raised bands that consist of four ribs each. A small loop added between the first and the second band may have served a similar function as the holes pierced through pins such as 1992.256.120. The shaft rapidly tapers to a point.

This group of pins acquired in Luristan is inspired by plant motifs (162.1972, 163.1972, 165.1972, and 166.1972). Three pin heads are more or less explicitly in the shape of poppy seedpods, while the fourth looks like a bud. The shafts of two of the pins are decorated with raised bands encircled by incised lines that similarly occur on many Luristan bronze objects. A large number of such floral pins were excavated in the building complex at Surkh Dum, which is generally interpreted as a sanctuary. This suggests that these pins were used in Luristan during Iron Age II and early Iron Age III (the ninth to eighth centuries BCE) (1).

NOTES:

1. See E. F. Schmidt, M. N. van Loon, and H. H. Curvers, The Holmes Expedition to Luristan (Chicago, 1989) 268-69 and 301-306 (27D.12-14), pls. 168-70. Compare also P. R. S. Moorey, Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1971) 188-89, nos. 297-300, pl. 48.


Susanne Ebbinghaus

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

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