1943.1319: Vase Handle with Relief Decoration
VesselsIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1943.1319
- Title
- Vase Handle with Relief Decoration
- Classification
- Vessels
- Work Type
- handle
- Date
- n.d.
- Places
- Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia?
- Culture
- Unidentified culture
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/311007
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Mixed copper alloy
- Technique
- Cast, lost-wax process
- Dimensions
- 14 x 11.4 cm (5 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.)
- Technical Details
-
Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Mixed Copper Alloy:
Cu, 80.82; Sn, 3.93; Pb, 5.36; Zn, 9.18; Fe, 0.27; Ni, 0.07; Ag, 0.12; Sb, 0.09; As, 0.15; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.016; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. RiedererTechnical Observations: The patina is a green and black pitted surface. A break is present on the lower end, and one tip at the lower proper left is missing. The attachment was made by lost-wax casting with the surface detail done in the wax model before casting.
Carol Snow (submitted 2002)
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
- Accession Year
- 1943
- Object Number
- 1943.1319
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.
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Descriptions
Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The handle or attachment is made up of several animals, including what appear to be flatfish and rams. It is finished on both sides, although the back is plain and featureless, and the underside of the flat animals is slightly concave.
The top of the attachment is in the shape of a bowl with objects, mostly spherical and perhaps fruit, in it. The bowl is supported by the tails of two flat creatures, perhaps flatfish (1). The fish-like creatures are piriform; a spur sticks out from the outer side of each near the tail but not on the inner side, making them mirror images of each other. A ruffled edge is present all around each creature, and both have a small fin on each side of the head. The heads are flat and spade-shaped, with two short antennae or horns at the top and bordered by a band of small dashed lines; the eyes are small circles. The heads are connected with a curving M-shaped bar that has rams’ head terminals, shown in profile but molded in the round. The head of another animal, perhaps a large feline, is in the center facing out. The bar, thicker at the top, ends in a fork on each side, perhaps representing a fillet or ribbon. It is unclear what form the portion below the central head would have taken.
NOTES:
1. For a discussion of depictions of flatfish from the Stone Age through the Renaissance, see R. Berghahn and F. P. Bennema, “Ancient History of Flatfish Research,” Journal of Sea Research 75 (2013): 3-7, esp. 4, fig. 2, a thirteenth-century CE illustration that corresponds to the Harvard bronze fairly closely. See also P. Citerne and B. Chanet, “Les représentations de poissons plats [Teleostei: Pleuronectiformes] dans l’art paléolithique européen,” Munibe: Antropologia, Arkeologia 57 (2005): 65-77, esp. 67-68, fig. 2.2.
Lisa M. Anderson
Publication History
- Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), p. 256 (checklist).
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