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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1992.256.44
Title
Standing Female Figure with Earrings
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Female Figure with Earrings and Rippled Neck
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statuette
Date
12th-8th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia
Period
Iron Age
Culture
Near Eastern
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/311823

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
10.3 x 3.2 cm (4 1/16 x 1 1/4 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Copper:
Cu, 98.32; Sn, 0.25; Pb, 0.22; Zn, 0.01; Fe, 0.25; Ni, 0.05; Ag, 0.08; Sb, less than 0.02; As, 1.07; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Copper
Alloying Elements: copper
Other Elements: lead, arsenic
Comments: There are calcium and iron accretions on the object.
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The figure is a solid cast. Tool marks are present, such as on the proper right side of the face, which may have been from cold working after casting. The metal has some deformations but otherwise seems intact. Losses may have occurred to the feet, if tang-like attachments were once present. The mostly black surface is very uneven and has some green corrosion. The tan and whitish accretions, which are present mostly on the front of the figurine, raise suspicions concerning the figure’s authenticity.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Louise M. and George E. Bates, Camden, ME (by 1971-1992), gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1992.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Louise M. and George E. Bates
Accession Year
1992
Object Number
1992.256.44
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 elongated statuette features a short, narrow waist decorated with a relief girdle from which hang two vertical appendages. The legs are long, especially in the thighs, with the knees articulated as rounded bumps and the feet projecting forward. The legs join in the area above and below the knees. The figure’s arms are bent outward, and the hands fold inward holding an object of uncertain character. The elongated neck is marked by five downward-curving horizontal grooves. The head is an elongated oval form with curving flattened top. On it are rendered a prominent triangular nose, two oval eyes accentuated by incised lines above the brows, a horizontal groove for a mouth, which is emphasized by an upward-curving groove below it, and two tiny perforated areas at the earlobes.
This statuette of indeterminate gender differs markedly in style from the products of Levantine workshops making bronze votive statuettes during the Late Bronze Age. It may well be a votive statuette. Reported by the donor to have been bought in Tehran, it is probably of Iranian origin. However, as with all unprovenienced statuettes, close affinities with comparable pieces are difficult to define. While doubts have been expressed in the Technical Observations about its authenticity because of the nature of its surface and corrosion products, a modern manufacture has not been definitively proven. Until this question is settled, it seems advisable to place this statuette roughly in the Iranian Late Bronze or Early Iron Age between c. 1200 and 700 BCE. Stylistically unlike most Luristan bronzes, this piece may be the product of a northwestern Iranian workshop or from a still unknown area.

David G. Mitten

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