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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1992.256.29
Title
Bull Figurine
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
11th-8th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Iron Age
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304262

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3400, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Ancient Greece in Black and Orange
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded copper
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
1.7 x 1.4 cm (11/16 x 9/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Copper:
Cu, 94.69; Sn, less than 0.25; Pb, 5.03; Zn, 0.006; Fe, less than 0.01; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.05; Sb, less than 0.02; As, 0.19; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is a pale tan and black crust over a thin green layer. Brown metallic surfaces are visible on the tips of the extremities. The bull is intact, including a tang extending from its proper right front leg.

The bull is a solid cast. It is in poor condition, with loss of surface detail. Removal of the tan and black crust reveals an unusual porous and pitted, pale green, orangish brown, and bare metal surface.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Louise M. and George E. Bates, Camden, ME (by 1971-1992), gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1992.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Louise M. and George E. Bates
Accession Year
1992
Object Number
1992.256.29
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 very simple, stylized standing quadruped is likely a bull (1). It has two small horns on either side of a raised, segmented ridge. The snout is short and rounded; no other details of the face are rendered. The bull stands on four short, stumpy legs; a cylindrical section (6 mm long) on the end of the right front leg may be a tang. The bull has a short, downward-curving tail.

NOTES:

1. Compare B. Borell, Statuetten, Gefässe und andere Gegenstände aus Metall, Katalog der Sammlung antiker Kleinkunst des Archäologischen Instituts der Universität Heidelberg 3.1 (Mainz, 1989) 13-14, no. 12, pl. 8; and M. Kunze, Meisterwerke antiker Bronzen und Metallarbeiten aus der Sammlung Borowski 1: Griechische und römische Bronzen (Ruhpolding and Mainz, 2007) 23, nos. G 1-6 (inv. nos. GR 033 a-h).

Lisa M. Anderson

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3400 Greek, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/03/2023 - 01/01/2050

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