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Identification 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. Riederer

Technical 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