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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1922.106
Title
Sacrificing Woman
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
3rd-2nd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Hellenistic period, Early
Culture
Etruscan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304005

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
5.3 x 2.2 cm (2 1/16 x 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 64.16; Sn, 6.47; Pb, 28.56; Zn, 0.015; Fe, 0.05; Ni, 0.09; Ag, 0.09; Sb, 0.14; As, 0.35; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.067; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is green over brown with areas of bright metal exposed by handling, which has also worn the surface smooth. The right hand and everything from the hem of the garment down are lost. The threaded pin in the bottom is modern.

The figure is a solid cast. Most or all of the detail was cast in the wax model used to create the statuette.


Henry Lie (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Henry W. Haynes, bequest; to the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, transfer; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1922.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, Bequest of Henry W. Haynes, 1912
Accession Year
1922
Object Number
1922.106
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
Although the figure is roughly executed, with the facial features barely discernable, there is a lively rhythm to her torso. She wears a chiton bound at the waist by a broad band and a mantle drawn over her head, over her left shoulder, behind her right arm, and in an oblique roll across her lower body, where it is held by her large left hand. The extended right arm, missing at the elbow, would have held a patera. The feet are missing. The back shows rounded forms but no detail.

This is one of the many mass-produced figures offered at sanctuaries. As with the male votary, 1920.44.45, she is derived from a Hellenistic type popular in the third century BCE (1).

NOTES:

1. See S. Haynes, Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History (Los Angeles, 2000) 357-58, fig. 280. See also M. Bentz, Etruskische Votivbronzen des Hellenismus (Florence, 1992) 94-96, Group 15 (15.1.1 and 15.2.1 are very similar), pls. 24-26. According to Bentz, the mass production began in the third century BCE, and he dates the group in the middle of the century, although manufacture probably continued thereafter; see ibid., 142. For the possible cult association with Minerva, see ibid. 53-54.


Jane A. Scott

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