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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1994.57
Title
Fragment of a Mirror Caryatid
Classification
Mirrors
Work Type
mirror handle
Date
mid 5th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Classical period
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304307

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
12.4 x 4.4 x 1.9 cm (4 7/8 x 1 3/4 x 3/4 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 82.49; Sn, 7; Pb, 10.23; Zn, 0.003; Fe, 0.02; Ni, 0.03; Ag, 0.03; Sb, 0.05; As, 0.13; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.013; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is a mottled green. The metal is lightly pitted overall, and there is a surface loss (0.3 cm in diameter) at the front hem of the skirt. The proper right hand and the feet of the figure are missing. The corners of the triangular plate at the top of the head are broken.

The figure was cast solid in one piece. The fine lines of the hair appear to have been made in the wax model.

Nancy Lloyd (submitted 2001)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Nanette Rodney Kelekian
Accession Year
1994
Object Number
1994.57
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
This peplos-wearing female mirror caryatid is missing her feet, although the stump of the right ankle is preserved. Her outstretched right hand is missing, as are the ends of the triangular bracket that rises from the woman’s head. The modeling of the drapery is summary; the peplos hangs in a raised V-shape at the neck. The high breasts are placed very close to each other. Her left arm hangs down beside the body and clutches the fold of the drapery in the typical Archaic gesture. There is a trace of an incised circular button or brooch at the top of the right shoulder. The modeling on the reverse is very summary. The left hand blends into the drapery that it grasps; there is no definition of the fingers. The figure’s head sits on a slender neck. Her eyes are closely set; her nose is short with rounded tip, beneath which a small, pursed mouth is summarily rendered. Her hair is gathered in a convex roll over the forehead, bunching above the ears. The back of the hair continues in a roll marked with indistinct vertical incisions. Horizontal incisions define the roll of hair over the forehead. Behind it, vertical incisions reach to the bottom of the spreading bracket that rises from the head. There is no clear demarcation between the top of the head and the bottom of the mirror-support bracket.

When seen from the side, the lower part of the figure is virtually linear, with no marked modeling of the abdomen and legs. On the back of the head, the bracket rises from the hair mass with no separation or definition.

This caryatid is typical of the more summarily modeled small mirror caryatids of the early Classical style (1). The modeling of the head, the peplos, and the overall proportions suggest a date of c. 460 BCE. It seems likely that this figure and the mirror that it supported were made in Corinth, Argos, or another nearby workshop in the northeastern Peloponnesus.

NOTES:

1. For parallels, see L. O. K. Congdon, Caryatid Mirrors of Ancient Greece (Mainz, 1981) 156, 167, and 182; nos. 40.a, 54.a-c, and 72.a-d; pls. 36, 50, and 66; D. G. Mitten 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) 90-91, no. 87; M. Comstock and C. C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Greenwich, CT, 1971) 245-46, no. 355; and Egyptian, Classical, and Western Asiatic Antiquities and Islamic Works of Art, Sotheby’s (New York) February 8-9, 1985, lot 87. See also G. Ortiz, In Pursuit of the Absolute: Art of the Ancient World, The George Ortiz Collection (Bern, 1996) no. 141, with extensive parallels and bibliography.


David G. Mitten

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2024 - 01/05/2025

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Objects

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