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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1991.248
Title
Standing Bull
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statuette
Date
1st-2nd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Gaul
Period
Roman Imperial period, Middle
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/299906

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
5.7 x 2.9 x 7.3 cm (2 1/4 x 1 1/8 x 2 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 75.21; Sn, 9.23; Pb, 13.99; Zn, 1.18; Fe, 0.18; Ni, 0.03; Ag, 0.08; Sb, 0.11; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is dark green with spots of red. Although areas of green and red appear as a layer on top of copper alloy, there is evidence that underlying red corrosion products in some locations penetrate deep into the metal, which is probably an indication of long-term burial. Three of the legs and the tail are lost.

The bull is a hollow cast. The breaks at the legs reveal openings to the core, as does a casting flaw below the tail. There is no evidence of the position of the lost portion of the tail, including whether it touched the bull’s flank. Iron corrosion products at the stomach and at a corresponding spot on the back fill a hole (c. 4 mm in diameter) in the metal. This is larger than most core pins and could be related to some kind of mount. File marks related to the finishing process are visible in the corrosion products. There is no obvious evidence of decorative cold working.


Henry Lie (submitted 2001)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. Jonathan Kagan
Accession Year
1991
Object Number
1991.248
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
The bull walks forward with its left foreleg raised, right hindleg back, and the other two legs locked in position (1). His head is turned slightly to the left. The bull has two short, conical, outward-curving horns with a central, conical shape between them. Tufts of hair on the top of the head are represented by two rows of globular shapes. The bull has large, piriform ears that stick out from the head. The eyes are only faintly indicated. Ridges are present on the back and sides of the neck; the bull has a sharp, curving dewlap. The body is rendered reasonably naturalistically. The lower portion of each leg is missing, as is most of the tail, which on other, better-preserved examples curves in a loop onto the bull’s back.

NOTES:

1. Compare examples in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv. nos. Fr. 2362 and Fr. 2374; S. Reinach, Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine 4 (Paris, 1910) 485-87, esp. 486.1 and 486.7; M. Comstock and C. C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Greenwich, CT, 1971) 143-44, no. 169; A. Kaufmann-Heinimann, Götter und Lararien aus Augusta Raurica: Herstellung, Fundzusammenhänge und sakrale Funktion figürlicher Bronzen in einer römischen Stadt, Forschungen in Augst 26 (Augst, 1998) 110, no. S49, fig. 69; and A. J. N. Pinto, Bronzes figurativos romanos de Portugal (Lisbon, 2002) 220-21, no. 80, pl. 86.

Lisa M. Anderson

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