Add to Collection

Add this item to an existing or new collection.
Harvard Art Museums
Incorrect Username, Email, or Password
This object does not yet have a description.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1969.177.39
Title
Fitting or Finial
Other Titles
Former Title: Ornament (Finial? Belt Buckle?)
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
early 10th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Iran
Period
Iron Age
Culture
Iranian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304297

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
5.3 x 3.8 x 1.5 cm (2 1/16 x 1 1/2 x 9/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Copper:
Cu, 97.94; Sn, less than 0.25; Pb, 1.79; Zn, 0.002; Fe, 0.04; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.11; Sb, 0.08; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Leaded Copper
Alloying Elements: copper, lead, iron
Other Elements: silver
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina is dark green with areas of light green and an underlying layer of red. Half of the surface is obscured with raised green corrosion products. The remainder is scraped down to the red layer below the original surface. There are numerous small voids, which appear to be casting flaws.

The freely formed and imperfect shapes point to a wax model made directly without the use of molds. There is no clear evidence of any surface decoration.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Harry J. Denberg, New York, NY (by 1969), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1969.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Harry J. Denberg
Accession Year
1969
Object Number
1969.177.39
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
One end of this object has a corrugated loop situated perpendicular to the central ring. At the opposite end, a short stem, also set at a right angle to the center, terminates in a flared, hollow cone with scalloped edges. A flat stylized bird and a flat palmette embellish the circumference of the central ring.

The corrugated loop suggests that this object was either a pendant or a fastener; however, the flared terminal opposite the loop does not allow the object to lay flat and could have attached to a shaft or other component. The closest parallels for this object may be found in cross-strap equestrian fittings and archers’ rings; it could also be interpreted as a finial (1).

NOTES:

1. See E. de Waele, Bronzes du Luristan et d’Amlash, Publications d’historie de l’art et d’archeologie de l’Université Catholique de Louvain 34 (Louvain-La-Neuve, 1982) 86-87, nos. 93-95; R. Ghirshman, “Anneaux destiné à tenders à la corde de l’arc,” Syria 35 (1958): 61-72; P. R. S. Moorey, Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1971) 133-36 and 236, nos. 144-50 and 444, pls. 27 and 64; O. W. Muscarella, Bronze and Iron: Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1988) 165 and 268-69, no. 257, fig. 25; and J. Rickenbach, Magier mit Feuer und Erz: Bronzekunst der frühen Bergvölker in Luristan, Iran (Zurich, 1992) 81-83, nos. 48, 50, and 53.


Amy Gansell

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