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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1989.9
Title
Head of a Goat
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statuette
Date
1st century BCE-1st century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304588

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
4.7 x 2.8 cm (1 7/8 x 1 1/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 84.72; Sn, 13.07; Pb, 1.78; Zn, 0.015; Fe, 0.17; Ni, 0.18; Ag, 0.03; Sb, 0.02; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.017; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is dark gray with spots of green. Deep corrosion is visible in some pitted areas, providing evidence of long-term burial. The tip of the beard is lost. The surface is extremely well preserved.

The goat head is a solid cast. A mold may have been used to create the wax model, but much of the decoration was refined in the wax. The horn decorations and details in the hair were made in the metal with a tracer tool.


Henry Lie (submitted 2001)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Purchased from Robert Haber Ancient Art in 1989.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, David M. Robinson Fund
Accession Year
1989
Object Number
1989.9
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 head of a goat has high curving horns, with a central segmented spine above the brow, and incised segments along the length to the outward curving tip (1). There is a fringe of hair, in locks, on the brow. The goat’s long floppy ears hang down above two other protuberances depicting locks of hair. The goat also has a long beard of wavy locks, although the beard is broken at the bottom. The goat’s face is carefully modeled with raised brows above the molded eyes and impressed circular pupils. The long snout and nose, rendered as though seen from above, are above the simple mouth line. The back of the beard is carved, but no other details are indicated on the reverse of the piece. The back of the head has an overall concave shape. This goat head could have been used as an attachment, perhaps for a vessel (2).

NOTES:

1. A goat figurine in the Netherlands has a head with similarly rendered horns and beard; see A. N. Zadoks-Josephus Jitta, W. J. T. Peters, and W. A. van Es, Roman Bronze Statuettes from the Netherlands 1: Statuettes Found North of the Limes (Groningen, 1967) 108-109, no. 44; as does one at Lyon, see S. Boucher and S. Tassinari, Bronzes antiques du Musée de la Civilisation Gallo-Romaine a Lyon 1: Inscriptions, statuaire, vaisselle (Lyon, 1976) 95, no. 94.

2. See “Acquisitions,” Director’s Report 1988/1989: 36-44, esp. 38. Compare M. Comstock and C. C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Greenwich, CT, 1971) 318-19, no. 444; and H. Sedlmayer, Die römischen Bronzegefässe in Noricum, Monographies instrumentum 10 (Montagnac, 1999) 39, no. 3.4.1, pl. 16.5.


Lisa M. Anderson

Publication History

  • "Acquisitions", Director's Report (Harvard University Art Museums) (1988/1989), 36-44, p. 38.

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