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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1977.216.3418
Title
Child at Play
Other Titles
Former Title: Small Child
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statuette
Date
late 1st century BCE-1st century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period, Early
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304236

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded brass
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
3.6 x 2.8 x 1.3 cm (1 7/16 x 1 1/8 x 1/2 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Brass:

Cu, 72.12; Sn, 1.79; Pb, 7.1; Zn, 17.06; Fe, 1.48; Ni, 0.13; Ag, 0.18; Sb, 0.1; As, less than 0.10; Bi, 0.033; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, 0.003

J. Riederer

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Mixed Copper Alloy
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead, zinc
Other Elements: iron, nickel, silver, antimony
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: 1977.216.3418 has a black patina. There is a hole in the bottom of the left foot for attachment to a base. The cast figurines were both made in a two-part mold. On each, a seam that goes around the sides of the body, arms, legs, and head has been filed smooth in the bronze in an attempt to hide it. The filing is particularly crude in 1955.122, and this fact, along with the lack of a burial patina and a perfectly preserved surface, makes this bronze questionable as an antiquity.

1977.216.3418 is more carefully finished in the bronze along the seam, although there are deep striations from finishing the surface elsewhere. Unlike the other casting, the surface does show some signs of wear and age.

The heads of the two figurines are very similar in shape, size, and expression. They could be related to each other or derived from a single source, but they are not so similar that a direct connection due to mold-making procedures can be demonstrated clearly.


Henry Lie (submitted 2001)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Department of the Classics, Harvard University
Accession Year
1977
Object Number
1977.216.3418
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
A small, nude child of approximately one to two years of age stands on its left foot; its right leg and right arm are raised, and its left arm hangs down and is held out from its side. There is no clear indication of the child’s sex. Curly hair frames the face, which is turned to the left and down. The hands are slightly cupped and the right leg sticks straight out from its side.

The figure is likely part of a composition consisting of two children clapping their right hands together as they stand on their left legs (1). The representation of children in naturalistic poses first came into fashion in the Hellenistic period when many new and innovative compositions were created (2).

NOTES:

1. For the type, see a bronze group of identical scale in a German private collection published in B. Schweitzer, Antiken in ostpreussischem Privatbesitz (Halle, 1929) 44-45, no. 19, pl. 26.

2. For a discussion of artistic representations of children in the Hellenistic period, see L. A. Beaumont, “The Changing Face of Childhood,” in Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past, eds. J. Neils and J. Oakley (New Haven, 2003) 77-81.


Seán Hemingway

Publication History

  • [Reproduction Only], Persephone, Vol. 11, No. 1, Spring 2011, p. 56.

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

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