Group of Two Human Figures | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 2022.240
Title: Group of Two Human Figures
Classification: Sculpture
Work Type: statuette, sculpture
Date: c. 2000 BCE, or modern
Places: Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Syria
Period: Bronze Age, Middle
Culture: Syro-Hittite
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/369978

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Arsenical copper
Technique: Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions: 10.2 × 4.6 × 2 cm (4 × 1 13/16 × 13/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History: [Charles D. Kelekian, New York (by 1952-1982)], by descent; to [Kelekian Associates, New York (1982-1992)], by descent; to Nanette Rodney Kelekian, New York (1992-2021), bequest; to the Harvard Art Museums.

NOTE:
"Kelekian Associates" was formed at the death of Charles D. Kelekian by Nanette Rodney Kelekian and her mother Beatrice Kelekian. Upon Beatrice Kelekian’s death in 1992, ownership passed to Nanette Rodney Kelekian.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Nanette B. Kelekian
Accession Year: 2022
Object Number: 2022.240
Division: Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact: am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description: Two simplified human figures with relatively large heads share a base. Both have prominent noses, large, concave eyes, and a horizontal line indicating the mouth. The genitalia identify the taller figure as a man, the smaller one as a woman. Both have flat breasts and wear what looks like a belt. The man is equipped with a baldric; his right hand is hollow and could have held a spear. The woman raises her left hand to her face and holds what may be a cup in her right hand. Two incised straps cross over her chest.

The couple was likely cast in the lost-wax process, perhaps with some cold-working. The head of the man is inclined to the front. The patina is dark brown, covered with a thin, light gray-greenish layer and light brown accretions.
Commentary: The figures of this group are very flat and more angular than other examples of this type, which has been attributed to North Syria and the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BCE. Even though the couple is made of arsenical copper, which would be appropriate for a Bronze Age date and is typical of other such joined figures, it has several unusual traits and may well be modern.

See:
Helga Seeden, The Standing Armed Figures in the Levant, Prähistorische Bronzefunde Abteilung I, vol. 1 (Munich: C. H. Beck, 1980) 15-17, pls. 10-11.
P.R.S. Moorey and Stuart Fleming, "Problems in the Study of the Anthropomorphic Metal Statuary from Syro-Palestine before 330 B.C.," Levant 16 (1984) 82-83, with metal analysis.
Oscar W. Muscarella, The Lie Became Great: The Forgery of Near Eastern Cultures (Groningen: Styx, 2000) 196 no. 7.

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

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