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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1987.133
Title
Oinochoe Handle
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
handle
Date
first half 5th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Archaic period, Late, to Early Classical
Culture
Etruscan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303878

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
17.8 x 12.5 cm (7 x 4 15/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 75.68; Sn, 4.76; Pb, 18.4; Zn, 0.011; Fe, 0.11; Ni, 0.06; Ag, 0.06; Sb, 0.18; As, 0.63; Bi, 0.08; Co, 0.036; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is smooth brown with areas of green and some areas of red corrosion. Grayish accretions remain in the lower lines of design. The underside is very rough cast and has light green, light blue, and tan corrosion and deposits, as well as areas of dark gray, porous material in the low areas at both ends. The handle is in sound condition.

The solid cast bronze handle was probably fabricated by lost-wax casting with the design cut in the wax prior to casting. Rough finishing marks, made in the metal, are present on the surface. The top of the handle has a groove where it would sit on the rim of the vessel. Four rivets for attachment are present: two rivets are present under the reclining lions’ paws at the top of the handle, and one above the other at the lower end of the handle. A small amount of what appears to be mineralized remains of the vessel rim is attached to one of the rivets at the top.


Carol Snow and Nina Vinogradskaya (submitted 2002)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Marian H. Phinney Fund
Accession Year
1987
Object Number
1987.133
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 oinochoe handle is decorated with three lions at the top and a siren-like figure at the bottom (5 cm wide). The lions have rather long ears, which point back as if to indicate agitation. Their mouths are open, and their muzzles are wrinkled in a snarl, as if roaring. The fur of the manes and bodies on the reclining lions is indicated by very short, layered incised lines. Their manes are marked off as one mass of hood-like fur, leaving their faces bare, and their swishing tails are also picked out in curving incised lines between their bent back legs. The tops of their ears are decorated with a crisscross pattern. The rivets for attachment to the vessel are preserved under the forepaws of the reclining lions. The large, central lion’s head, which extends from the top of the handle, would have looked into the contents of the pitcher. The central lion’s head is tilted slightly to the left, its mouth is partly open with its snout wrinkled. There is a raised ridge running down the spine of the handle. On either side of the ridge are double incised lines. The first two are diagonal, the others horizontal, in three groups. The base of the handle is decorated in a palmette topped with a head, perhaps meant to represent a siren (1). The head has a cap of fringed hair and a small triangular face. Two volutes transition into palmette leaves at the bottom. Above the volutes are what appear to be either wings or upturned palmette leaves, framing the face.

NOTES:

1. F. Jurgeit, Die etruskischen und italischen Bronzen sowie Gegenstände aus Eisen, Blei, und Leder im Badischen Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (Pisa, 1999) 357-58, nos. 584-85, pl. 181. Handles of this type often end in a palmette, and the siren-palmette attachment plate on this example seems to be a variant.


Marina D. Haworth

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