A metal rectangular frame, with a protrusion on the bottom, that borders an upper image, with three humans and two animals, and a lower image, with one human and two animals.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

This is a flat, rectangular, metal object with a cross shaped protrusion coming from the bottom center. The arms the cross protrusion are pierced and rounded. The border of the rectangle is detailed with a repeating chevron pattern. Inside the rectangle are two scenes, divided by a horizontal bar through the center with the repeating chevron pattern. The upper scene depicts a human figure standing on top of a ball, flanked by two other human figures, one on each side, both standing on four legged animals. The lower scene shows one human figure, seated in the center, flanked by four legged animals, one on each side.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.1162
Title
Head of a Large Dress Pin with Demons and Felines
Other Titles
Former Title: Finial for a Staff
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
pin
Date
10th-8th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Luristan (Iran)
Period
Iron Age
Culture
Iranian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304013

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3440, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Ancient Middle Eastern Art in the Service of Kings
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
13.6 x 10.2 x 0.9 cm (5 3/8 x 4 x 3/8 in.)
Technical Details

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

K. Eremin, January 2014

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze
Cu, 79.83; Sn, 16.14; Pb, 3.18; Zn, 0.008; Fe, 0.4; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.08; Sb, 0.09; As, 0.23; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.01; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is dark green. The remains of an iron attachment are visible at the terminal of the shank. Fine striations on the front surfaces are the result of abrasive finishing of the bronze casting.

The object is a solid lost-wax cast. Five separately formed sections of wax—the outer frame, horizontal band, upper frieze, lower frieze, and shank—were joined and then incised with sharp tools to complete the wax model. All but the shank were cut from sheets of wax, and the two frieze sections may have been initially formed by pressing a sheet of wax into an open mold. Marks from manipulation of the wax are present over much of the reverse. The joining of the separate sections in slightly different planes allowed for higher relief in the figural elements.


Tracy Richardson (submitted 1999)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Grenville L. Winthrop, New York, NY, (by 1943), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.1162
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This openwork finial comprises two figural registers in a square frame supported by an iron shank, most of which is broken off (1). The top of the shank is defined by concentric ribs, below which small loops, perhaps for a suspension chain, extend from either side. The register line and inside border of the frame are embellished with herringbone hatching. The back of the object is plain.

In typical Luristan style, both registers feature Master of Animals figures flanked by open-mouth lionesses with bound waists and curled tails resting upon their backs. The figures have round heads that are indented at the crown, hair coils on either side of their faces, large eyes, long noses, and small mouths. They have bare torsos and wear short, belted skirts, which suggest that they are male. Their arms are extended and, based on the distance between their skirt hems and their toes, they seem to be portrayed seated or crouching.

The upper register depicts three figures. The outer figures are poised atop the backs of the lionesses in profile, flanking the third and largest figure, who sits atop a rosette. The figures are linked at their hands and hair curls, and the lionesses’ jaws touch the skirt of the central figure. In the lower register, a single figure is situated between the felines. His hands rest upon their forelegs, keeping them at bay, and the felines’ jaws gape on either side of his head.

Described as ceremonial pin heads, or more generally as finials, objects of similar scale, form, style, and iconography are attributed to Luristan (2).

NOTES:

1. See A. Aja, “Openwork Pin Head,” Harvard Art Museum Handbook, ed. S. Wolohojian (Cambridge, MA, 2008) 8.

2. See P. R. S. Moorey, Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1971) 200 and 206, nos. 351-52, pl. 55; and P. R. S. Moorey et al., Ancient Bronzes, Ceramics, and Seals: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection of Ancient Near Eastern, Central Asiatic, and European Art (Los Angeles, 1981) 73-75, nos. 357-61.


Amy Gansell

Publication History

  • Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackerman, A Survey of Persian Art From Prehistoric Times to the Present, Oxford University Press (NY) and Oxford University Press (UK) (London, England and New York, NY, 1967), Vol. I, p. 261; Vol. VII, pl. 40b.
  • Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), p. 256 (checklist).
  • Stephan Wolohojian, ed., Harvard Art Museum/Handbook (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2008), p. 8.
  • Susanne Ebbinghaus, ed., Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes, Harvard Art Museum and Yale University Press (Cambridge, MA, 2014), p. 76

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3440 Middle East, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes
  • Google Art Project

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