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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1961.143
Title
Standing Warrior
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
n.d.
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Modern
Culture
Unidentified culture
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/311124

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Mixed copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
13.3 x 4.3 cm (5 1/4 x 1 11/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Mixed Copper Alloy:
Cu, 82.16; Sn, 10.71; Pb, 0.76; Zn, 3.89; Fe, 1.04; Ni, 0.1; Ag, 0.06; Sb, 1.04; As, 0.25; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Chemical Composition: Warrior
XRF data from Artax 2
Alloy: Mixed copper alloy
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, zinc
Other Elements: lead, iron, nickel, silver, antimony, arsenic
Comments: The amount of antimony suggested by the ICP-MS/AAA data is not confirmed by XRF analysis, which detected only a slight trace of antimony.


Tang in foot
XRF data from Artax 2
Alloy: Brass
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead, zinc
Other Elements: iron, nickel
Comments: The lead and tin were detected in minor to trace amounts.

K. Eremin, June 2015

Chemical Composition:
ICP-OES data from sample, Mixed Copper Alloy:



Cu, 83.21; Sn, 10.58; Pb, 0.78; Zn, 1.96; Fe, 0.95; Ni, 0.14; Ag, 0.01; Sb, 0.08; As, 0.11; Co, 0.001; Au, not detected; Cd, 0.001



P. Degryse

Chemical Composition:
Lead Isotope Analysis (Pb, 0.76 to 0.78%):

Pb206/Pb204, 18.27989; Pb207/Pb204, 15.63550; Pb208/Pb204, 38.34140; Pb, 207/Pb206, 0.85534; Pb 208/Pb206, 2.09746; Pb208/Pb207, 2.45220



P. Degryse

Technical Observations: The patina is brownish green overall, interspersed with layers of green malachite, red cuprite, and some black; the black is perhaps oxides or sulfides. The warrior is missing his proper left arm and left foot. The break at the left arm reveals bare metal, porosity from casting, overpaint that is removable with solvents, and some corrosion products.

The warrior is a solid cast with details and decorations done in the wax model before casting. The tang projecting from the bottom of the proper right foot is a separate piece of metal that was attached mechanically. The tang has a different surface appearance than the figure, with less corrosion and more tool marks. Surface finishing after casting is evident in some areas where tool marks are visible, such as the top of the helmet.

Although the type and depth of corrosion products present are consistent with long-term burial, comparison with the candelabrum group of a male and female from Marzabotto and other evidence indicate that Harvard’s piece is a copy of a portion of that candelabrum group and therefore not an antiquity. The lack of the left arm on the Harvard warrior could be explained by the fact that, in the original from Marzabotto, the warrior’s left arm embraces the female figure. In the case of the Harvard statuette, there is no clear indication of attachment to another figure. There is also a small flaw on the left thigh of this piece at the location of a point of attachment on the original that does not appear to be the remnant of such an attachment in this version.


Carol Snow, Nina Vinogradskaya, and Henry Lie (submitted 2002, updated 2005)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Frederick M. Watkins, gift; to the Fogg Museum, 1961.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Frederick M. Watkins
Accession Year
1961
Object Number
1961.143
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This standing warrior appears to be a copy of one half of a candelabrum group found at Marzabotto, Italy, in the nineteenth century. The features of the face are large and angular, particularly the eyes. The lips are curved upward into an archaic smile. His head is turned slightly downward and to his left. His left arm is missing below the elbow. The right arm is bent slightly, and the hand is at waist level holding a short staff.

The warrior’s helmet is high-crested, and the cheek pieces are raised. The crest bears incised lines, representing feathers or locks of hair, held in place by a curving “comb” decorated with a line of circular impressions. The tail of the crest reaches the center of his back. A circle with a central dot decorates the center of his visor. Locks of wavy hair are visible on the back of his neck.

His breastplate is made up of overlapping scales, indicated by curved incisions. Molded shoulder flaps cover the front and back of his shoulders, ending in curved tabs on the front and rectangular sections on the back. Circles with central dots decorate the front tabs of the shoulder plate; they are the same size as the one on the helmet. A raised belt separates the scaled portion from a double-row of rectangular pteruges encircling his navel and lower back; the rectangular flaps are decorated with hatchmarks. A short-sleeved cloth tunic is visible under the cuirass at the shoulders and around his groin and buttocks. The warrior’s legs are bare except for greaves, which are indicated with shallow, raised lines. The proper left foot is broken off and missing. A circular-sectioned tang, not of the same casting as the rest of the statuette, is attached to the bottom of his right foot.

The similarity to the Marzabotto candelabrum group was first suggested in print in the 1960s, and it was even proposed that the two might have been made in the same mold (1). There are some differences, particularly in the rendering of the face and of the cuirass. The alloy for the piece has an unusually high zinc content for the Etruscan period. Particularly suspicious is the fact that the Harvard warrior’s arm terminates in the same place where the Marzabotto warrior’s arm connects with the shoulder of the woman. A copy of the female portion of the statue group was known on the art market in the 1960s (2). Although areas of the corrosion on the Harvard object are convincingly ancient, discrepancies have been noted in print prior to the present analysis (3).

The original candelabrum group was retained by the family who originally owned the land where it was found. A scale copy is on display at the Museo Nazionale Etrusco Pompeo Aria, and a colossal copy of the warrior and woman were set up on the grounds of the Villa Aria near the archaeological site. The individual who manufactured the Harvard warrior could have made it using the molds taken from the original that were used to create the replica on display in the Marzabotto museum, but Harvard’s warrior’s armor in some ways better approximates the armor of the warrior in the colossal group, which is also rendered in curved scales. Another candelabrum finial from Marzabotto, depicting a nude youth carrying an amphora, seems to have been lent to the copiest at the same time as the warrior and woman group, and Harvard owns a copy of this piece as well (1962.62): alloy and lead isotope analysis indicate that 1961.143 and 1962.62 are close relatives, possibly made using copper from the same source (4).

NOTES:

1. See S. Doeringer, “An Etruscan Bronze Warrior in the Fogg Museum,” Studi etruschi 35 (1965): 645-65, esp. 647; and ead., “An Etruscan Warrior in the Fogg Art Museum,” The Art Quarterly 30.1 (1967): 31-38, esp. 32. See also G. Muffatti, “L’instrumentum in bronzo,” Studi etruschi 37.2 (1969): 247-72, esp. 265-66.

2. Note from Hans Jucker in the object’s file folder; also R. Hecht, “It is fake!” Objets: Revue semestrielle d’art et archéologie 3 (1971): 26-36, esp. 35.

3. See Hecht 1971 (supra 2) 35-36; and S. Doeringer, “Warrior,” in The Frederick M. Watkins Collection, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1973) 96-97, no. 43.

4. See “Chemical Composition” fields.

Lisa M. Anderson

Publication History

  • Suzannah F. Doeringer and George M. A. Hanfmann, "An Etruscan Bronze Warrior in the Fogg Museum", Studi Etruschi (1967), Vol. 35, 645-653, pl. 139.a-b, 140.a-c.
  • Suzannah F. Doeringer, "An Etruscan Warrior in the Fogg Art Museum", The Art Quarterly (1967), Vol. 30, No. 1, 31-38, Figs. 1-4, 8.
  • David Gordon Mitten and Suzannah F. Doeringer, Master Bronzes from the Classical World, exh. cat., Verlag Philipp von Zabern (Mainz am Rhein, Germany, 1967), p. 172, no. 173.
  • Richard Stuart Teitz, Masterpieces of Etruscan Art, exh. cat., Worcester Art Museum (Worcester, MA, 1967), p. 75-76, no. 64.
  • G. Muffatti, "L'instrumentum in bronzo", Studi Etruschi (1969), Vol. 37, Series 2, 247-272, p. 265-66.
  • Robert E. Hecht, Jr., "It's a fake!", Objets: Revue Semestrielle d'Art et d'Archeologie (1971), Vol. 3, 26-36, p. 35-36, figs. 18 and 20.
  • The Frederick M. Watkins Collection, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1973), pp. 96-97, no. 43.
  • Gabriele Pfister-Roesgen, Die etruskischen Spiegel des 5. Jhs. v. Chr., Peter Lang GmbH (Frankfurt am Main, 1975), p. 147 and 224, n.416.
  • Lisa Anderson, Katherine Eremin, Henry Lie, Francesca Bewer, and Patrick Degryse, Is There an Ultimate Authority in Authenticity? Testing and Retesting Alexander the Great, Artistry in Bronze: The Greeks and Their Legacy XIXth International Congress on Ancient Bronzes, J. Paul Getty Museum (https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.6142256.57, 2017), Pages 398-406, Figure 47.5a-b, Page 402

Exhibition History

  • Masterpieces of Etruscan Art, Worcester Art Museum, 04/21/1967 - 06/04/1967
  • Master Bronzes from the Classical World, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 12/04/1967 - 01/23/1968; City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, 03/01/1968 - 04/13/1968; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 05/08/1968 - 06/30/1968
  • The Frederick M. Watkins Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 01/31/1973 - 03/14/1973

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

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