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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1964.145
Title
Attachment with a Bovine Head
Classification
Riding Equipment
Work Type
ornament
Date
3rd-2nd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Hellenistic period
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304182

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
11 x 8.2 cm (4 5/16 x 3 1/4 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 61.08; Sn, 4.5; Pb, 33.87; Zn, 0.021; Fe, 0.09; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.06; Sb, 0.12; As, 0.16; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.055; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is green and thin. There is a reddish area on top of the head, perhaps caused by contact with some organic material during burial. The surface was cleaned after excavation, and some scratches and recarving of details from this treatment are apparent, such as the metallic surface that shines through the patina in some areas. The metal is porous, as can be seen especially on the back. There is a small hole in the bull’s forehead, but it is not clear whether this was intentional or a flaw. A sandy clay material, which may be from burial or perhaps from casting, is preserved on the inside of the head.

The hollow head was cast by the lost-wax process. The rings were fashioned directly and attached to the head in the wax. The straight element that extends down from the head through the bottom ring may have also served as a sprue.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Charles L. Morley to Frederick M. Watkins, 1963; Gift to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1964.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Frederick M. Watkins
Accession Year
1964
Object Number
1964.145
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 object consists of a bovine head mounted to three rings, grouped in triangular formation, behind which is attached a vertical rod that has been broken at the base below the bottom ring. The head has short, curved horns and a thick mass of curls on its forehead.

Bovine heads served as appliques on a variety of objects in the Hellenistic period (1). It has been suggested that the vertical rod may have been inserted into a chariot railing and that the rings served as rein guides (2). This type, with three rings attached, recalls bull’s head protomes that were riveted onto bronze cauldrons at Urartu in the eighth century BCE. The type appears to have had a long history stretching into the Roman Imperial period, and smaller examples from that period have been interpreted as votives (3). The majority of examples, when the provenience is known, come from Asia Minor.

NOTES:

1. Compare, for example, a smaller and later Hellenistic applique in the form of a bovine head from the Mahdia shipwreck; see B. Barr-Sharrar, “The Bronze Appliques,” Das Wrack: Der antike Schiffsfund von Mahdia, ed. G. Hellenkemper Salies, Kataloge des Rheinischen Landesmuseums Bonn 1 (Köln, 1994) 569, fig. 19.

2. See the discussion in D. G. Mitten, “A Bronze Bull Protome,” Fogg Art Museum Acquisitions 1964 (1965): 136-40, esp. 140; id. and S. F. Doeringer, Master Bronzes from the Classical World, exh. cat., The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University; City Art Museum of St. Louis; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Mainz, 1967) 141, no. 145; and D. G. Mitten, The Frederick M. Watkins Collection, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1973) 30, no. 9.

3. See C. Bernoulli, “Stierprotomen und ihre Rätsel,” in Intuition und Kunstwissenschaft: Festschrift für Hanns Swarzenski zum 70. Geburtstag am 30. August 1973, eds. P. Bloch, T. Buddensieg, A. Hentzen, and T. Müller (Berlin, 1973) 45-52, esp. 45 and 49.


Seán Hemingway

Publication History

  • David Gordon Mitten, "A Bronze Bull Protome", Fogg Art Museum Acquisitions, 1964, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1965), 136-140, ill.
  • David Gordon Mitten and Suzannah F. Doeringer, Master Bronzes from the Classical World, exh. cat., Verlag Philipp von Zabern (Mainz am Rhein, Germany, 1967), p. 141, no. 145.
  • The Frederick M. Watkins Collection, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1973), p. 30, no. 9.
  • Siri Sande, "Bukefalas", Ultra Terminum Vagari: Scritti in onore di Carl Nylander, ed. Börje Magnusson, Edizioni Quasar (Rome, 1997), 293-299, p. 293, no. 1.

Exhibition History

  • Master Bronzes from the Classical World, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 12/04/1967 - 01/23/1968; City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, 03/01/1968 - 04/13/1968; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 05/08/1968 - 06/30/1968
  • The Frederick M. Watkins Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 01/31/1973 - 03/14/1973

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