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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1995.1165
Title
Attachment Plate Depicting Centaur and Lion
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
handle
Date
1st-2nd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period, Middle
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304358

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
4.3 x 3.5 x 1.1 cm (1 11/16 x 1 3/8 x 7/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 80.83; Sn, 6.62; Pb, 12.11; Zn, 0.012; Fe, 0.03; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.06; Sb, 0.19; As, 0.11; 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 green with small spots of underlying red. The attachment is deeply corroded but stable. Portions of the thick corrosion layer have chipped off. The surface is worn and corroded, and some detail has been lost.

The wax model was probably pressed or otherwise formed in a mold. Undercuts at the head and other areas could have been added by subsequent direct work in the wax. Details in the face were probably enhanced with cold working.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Nelson Goodman, Weston, MA, gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1995.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Nelson Goodman
Accession Year
1995
Object Number
1995.1165
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
The scene on this irregularly shaped attachment plate from a vessel handle depicts a centaur, body to the left, head turned to the right, grasping a small lion crouched on his back (1). The centaur appears to be wearing a helmet. Details of the face are not well preserved, but the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth are visible. He grasps the lion with his bent right arm. The front of the lion is shown from above with its face turned to bite the centaur. Its hindquarters are shown in profile, seated directly on the back of the centaur, and its tail is raised. There is an unknown object, perhaps a cloak, over the right shoulder of the centaur. The centaur’s four legs are all shown; the front right leg is raised and bent, the front left leg is locked straight, the back left leg moves forward, and the back right leg is locked. The centaur’s tail hangs down. There are cutouts between the front and back right legs and between the back left and right legs. The back of the plate is slightly concave and featureless, with the exception of two vertical gouges. There is a clear break at the top where the handle would have attached to the plate.

NOTES:

1. For other handles with figural attachment plates, see M. Kohlert-Németh, Archäologische Reihe Römische Bronzen aus Nida-Heddernheim 2: Fundsachen aus dem Hausrat (Frankfurt, 1990) 60-61, no. 33; Los bronces romanos en España, exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Palacio de Velazquez (Madrid, 1990) 292, no. 244 (a scene of Eros sacrificing); and H. Sedlmayer, Die römischen Bronzegefässe in Noricum, Monographies instrumentum 10 (Montagnac, 1999) 23, no. 3.1.7, pl. 7.2 (two erotes). See also ibid., 85-86, pl. 34.5-6, for two small figural attachments that would have been joined to vessels by a loop and have a generally similar form to this piece. Compare the figural attachment plates in S. Tassinari, Il vasellame bronzo di Pompei, Ministero per i beni culturali ed ambientali, Soprintendenza archeologica di Pompei 5 (Rome, 1993) pls. 145-46, esp. D2300, no. 18762 (two facing figures)

Lisa M. Anderson

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