Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
These two circular repoussé discs depict lion heads and were probably the faceplates for decorative handles. The two discs are similar enough to have been made using the same mold. On each disc, the lion’s face is rendered in high relief. The mane completely surrounds the face in straight, thin locks. The lion’s brows are raised and furrowed with an impressed line running along each one. The round eyes on each disc, with upper and lower lids rendered, have white and orange discolorations, but it is not clear whether these are intentional or the result of corrosion. The nose and cheekbones are rendered naturalistically. The mouth is open in a snarl, and the upper and lower sections are connected by two thin strips representing overlapping canine teeth (broken on one side on 2004.202.B). The upper teeth are rendered as a strip between the canines (preserved on 2004.202.A only), with the incisors separated by impressed lines; the lolling tongue covers the lower teeth and much of the lower lip and chin. A molded rim consisting of two raised bands encircles the mane, and the traces of iron corrosion on three equally spaced locations in the border of each disc show where clamps would have affixed the plate to a piece of furniture or something similar. A thin ring likely ran through the open mouth, held in place by the vertical teeth.
This type of lion-headed handle would have been attached to a wooden sarcophagus or chest, and many examples have been found in Roman Syria (1). It could have been used as a handle for grasping and carrying or merely as a decorative element. The motif of the lion-headed handle also appears on marble sarcophagi (2).
NOTES:
1. For similar pieces, see T. Weber, Syrisch-römische Sarkophagbeschläge: Orientalische Bronzewerkstätten in römischer Zeit (Mainz am Rhein, 1989) 28-39, “Kat. III,” figs. 30-39, pls. 30-46; B. Borell, Statuetten, Gefässe und andere Gegenstände aus Metall, Katalog der Sammlung antiker Kleinkunst des Archäologischen Instituts der Universität Heidelberg 3.1 (Mainz, 1989) 106-11, nos. 113-19, pls. 45-46; and H. Mahboubian, Art of Ancient Iran: Copper and Bronze (London, 1997) 265, no. 341, which also have orange and white discoloration on their surfaces.
2. See, for example, a third-century CE strigilated sarcophagus in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 2005.258; C. A. Picón, ed., Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome (New York, 2007) 397 and 496-97, no. 466.
Lisa M. Anderson
