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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2012.1.104
Title
Handle in the Form of a Lion's Head
Classification
Furniture
Work Type
attachment
Date
2nd-3rd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/57704

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
Lion: 10.9 x 0.2 cm (4 5/16 x 1/8 in.)
Ring: 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Leaded Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead
Other Elements: iron
Comments: The lion head and ring attachment have the same elements.
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina is green with buff-colored accretions and rust from iron rivets. The object appears never to have been significantly cleaned after excavation. The details are only slightly obscured by the remaining corrosion products. The iron corrosion products are also intact.

The disc was cast using the indirect lost-wax process. The wax model was formed in a reusable mold, but the holes for the ring were more crudely cut directly through the wax model rather than formed as part of the wax casting process. The 4-mm holes for the iron rivets were also probably pushed through the wax model. All of the finer surface decoration on the front was punched using circular and elongated punches. Linear designs were formed by hammering a pointed tool along the surface. There is no evidence of an opening at the mouth, as seen in the other examples in Harvard’s collection. A deep dent at the mouth post-dates the corrosion process and has shattered the corrosion products in this area.

The solid-cast ring is not a perfect circle, and it was probably cast as a straight shape using a lost-wax process, either direct or indirect. Both ends were crudely cut to length using a heavy hammer and chisel. These ends would have been hidden behind the disc.


Henry Lie (submitted 2011)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
{Hesperia Art, Philadelphia, PA], (1969), sold; to the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (1969-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums 2012.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University
Accession Year
2012
Object Number
2012.1.104
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This handle consists of a circular disc cast in the shape of a lion's head, a separate ring attachment, and three iron nails for attachment. The head of the lion is depicted frontally. The rope-like locks of the mane are rendered schematically in lines and relief around the head; other fur around the face is indicated by a series of dashed lines. The oval ears are rather flat, while the rest of the face is much more modeled, increasing in relief to the nose. The lion has a furrowed brow; the eyes have angular lines drawn around them, with the irises indicated by thin lines and the pupils indicated by a deeper circle. The nose is broad and partially obscured by accretions. The lion’s mouth is open, baring its teeth, and the tongue sticks out, resting on the lower lip. On either side of the jaw is an oblate hole through which the ring passes. The iron nails are in a triangular pattern, one under the chin and the other two flanking the ears. The ring is a thick metal bar with several raised, pinched lines; the metal does not form a complete circle, and there is a gap of c. 1 cm between the ends.

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 a decorative element. The motif of the lion-headed handle also appears on marble sarcophagi (2).

NOTES:

1. T. Weber, Syrisch-römische Sarkophagbeschläge: Orientalische Bronzewerkstätten in römischer Zeit (Mainz am Rhein, 1989) 14-28, “Kat. II,” figs. 20-29, pls. 8-29; and 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.

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

Publication History

  • John Crawford, Sidney Goldstein, George M. A. Hanfmann, John Kroll, Judith Lerner, Miranda Marvin, Charlotte Moore, and Duane Roller, Objects of Ancient Daily Life. A Catalogue of the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection Belonging to the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, ed. Jane Waldbaum, Department of the Classics (unpublished manuscript, 1970), M198, p. 214 [J. S. Crawford]

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Objects

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