Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This small quadruped is characterized by a thin cylindrical body that is positioned not quite parallel to the base. A similarly cylindrical, elongated neck rises from the front quarters at a slight angle to the back. The animal’s elongated muzzle curves slightly downward. Two short ears project backward from the head. There may be traces of a transverse incision across the top of the head. All four feet are missing. The legs are broken off at the knees, except for the left front leg, which extends downward almost to the hoof. The underpart of the hindquarters and tail is deeply hollowed out. The tail, a small rectangular tab, hangs from the hindquarters. Its right edge adheres to the rear edge of the right rear leg.
The slender proportions, elongated muzzle, and short tail indicate that this animal is a deer, probably a doe. It may have rested upon an elongated rectangular base that in turn was supported by an openwork cage or other kind of rounded feature (1). It is a valuable addition to a still limited group of deer statuettes from northern Greece (2).
NOTES:
1. As in 1984.196.
2. For parallels, see I. Kilian-Dirlmeier, Kleinfunde aus dem Athena Itonia-Heiligtum bei Philia (Thessalien) (Mainz, 2002) 62, no. 948, pl. 61, a stag on double openwork cages; and 68, no. 1015, pl. 65; ead., Anhänger in Griechenland von der mykenischen bis zur spätgeometrischen Zeit, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 11.2 (Munich, 1979) 118-19, nos. 648-49 and 651; and J. Christiansen, Greece in the Geometric Period, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (Copenhagen, 1992) 66-67, no. 32 (inv. no. 3322), which may be a horse.
David G. Mitten
