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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1962.62
Title
Youth Wearing a Diadem and Carrying an Amphora
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statuette
Date
n.d.
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Modern
Culture
Unidentified culture
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304002

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Mixed copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
11.11 cm (4 3/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Mixed Copper Alloy:
Cu, 83.96; Sn, 10.36; Pb, 0.76; Zn, 3.51; Fe, 1.01; Ni, 0.09; Ag, 0.05; Sb, 0.08; As, 0.19; 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 2

Alloy: Mixed copper alloy

Alloying Elements: copper, tin, zinc

Other Elements: lead, iron, nickel, silver, antimony, arsenic


K. Eremin, June 2015

Chemical Composition:
ICP-OES data from sample, Mixed Copper Alloy:



Cu, 85.54; Sn, 9.38; Pb, 0.80; Zn, 1.99; Fe, 0.93; Ni, 0.15; Ag, 0.01; Sb, 0.08; As, 0.9; Co, 0.001; Au, not detected; Cd, 0.001



P. Degryse

Chemical Composition:
Lead Isotope Analysis (Pb, 0.76 to 0.80%):

Pb206/Pb204, 18.15995; Pb207/Pb204, 15.62111; Pb208/Pb204, 38.17815; Pb, 207/Pb206, 0.86020; Pb 208/Pb206, 2.10233; Pb208/Pb207, 2.44401



P. Degryse

Technical Observations: The figure is cast in one piece together with the amphora and the round flat base using the lost-wax process. Most of its details, such as the fingers and toes, are crudely modeled in a simplified form. The hole in the top of the amphora is tapered and was probably done in the wax, with the opening reworked in the metal. The fine line that runs around it is discontinuous, suggesting that it was inscribed in the metal. The hair was very meticulously delineated in the wax and has probably been reworked; it contrasts with the crudeness of the rest of the figure. The facial features have a carved quality that also seems very fresh in comparison to other parts of the figure. The join of the feet and base was cleaned up in the wax, leaving slightly inscribed lines in the base. A great deal of filing was done over the surface in the metal, which can be seen in the faceted limbs, such as the shins. No tool marks are preserved on the underside of the base.

The statuette is structurally sound. Some porosity breaks through to the surface. A large rectangular lacuna and a slightly smaller hole at the back of the right wrist appear to have been caused by a large vacuole of porosity. These holes contain the remains of a soft white and pink earthen material that could be remnants of molding material but are not core material. The threaded pin of the mount is modern, as is the hole that receives it in the base. The mottled reddish-brown and green patina is not convincing. It is very superficial and seems to lie over the numerous fine file marks, such as those on the base and on the right deltoid of the figure.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Marian H. Phinney, Cambridge, MA, (by 1962), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1962.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Marian H. Phinney
Accession Year
1962
Object Number
1962.62
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
Supporting an amphora on his left shoulder, this statuette of a youth stands on a flat, circular base that may have adorned a candelabrum. His left hand grips one handle of the vase, which is balanced on top of his shoulder, while his right hand rests on his waist. His carefully incised hair, with straight bangs cut away over the ears and a triple-lined headband circling the crown of the head, is remarkable for both the unusually fine state of its preservation and the lack of variation in its styling. This feature contrasts, too, with the crudeness of the modeling of the youth’s hands, feet, and facial features.

The figure is, at first glance, enigmatic. It features several elements that belong stylistically to a range of artistic periods within the Etruscan era, making it difficult to place chronologically. Although this type of eclecticism is not unknown in Etruscan art, the eclectic style of this figure is questionable, especially in combination with its unconvincing patina and unusual metal alloy.

The inspiration for the piece is another copper alloy figure, an Ethiopian water carrier from an Etruscan necropolis dated to the fourth century BCE in the Museo Nazionale Etrusco Pompeo Aria, Marzabotto (1). The Marzabotto piece is identical in most every feature to the Harvard piece except for the head and face, which are African in character. Although the two figures differ slightly in height (the Marzabotto piece is 11.89 cm, slightly taller than the Harvard one), the basic proportions, weight-bearing stance, modeling of hands, feet, etc., are nearly identical. Such resemblances are too marked to be considered accidental. The conundrum that remains is whether a cast was made of the Marzabotto water carrier, from which a new piece was created, or, if in fact, the forger had copied the piece without the benefit of a mold.

Water carriers are associated with the symposium, and thus they are an appropriate theme for the adornment of candelabra bases (2). However, while this is the function given for the Marzabotto figure, it is highly unlikely that the Harvard piece was made for this purpose, since it seems to have been cast separately from a candelabrum. Another piece of the same date from Marzabotto, that of a warrior and a woman (3), also provided inspiration for the forger; a copy of the warrior from the pair is also in Harvard’s collection (4). Both the warrior and the youth have several characteristics in common that give them a “family resemblance,” such as almond-shaped eyes and brows, mouths with the same deep lines dividing upper and lower lips into an Archaic smile, and crudely carved hands with deep grooves denoting the spaces between the fingers. Additionally, the feet of both figures have a “spade” shape, their thighs and calves follow a similar line in their curvature (as well as in the negative space between the legs), and their chins give the impression of being slightly double, as if the face of the warrior provided the inspiration for the water carrier’s. The hand of a single forger can be detected in both pieces.

NOTES:

1. Inv. no. B 386. See G. Muffatti, “L’instrumentum in bronzo,” Studi Etruschi 37.2 (1969): 247-72, esp. 266-67, no. 490, pl. 56.a-b.

2. Compare A. Sonetti and G. Cateni, eds., The Shadow of the Night: Etruscan Splendors from Volterra in Tuscany, exh. cat., Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College (Pisa, 1998) inv. nos. 1971.1 and 1971.2, for other examples of water carriers.

3. Inv. no. B 387. See Muffatti 1969 (supra 1) 264-66, fig. 480, pl. 55.

4. See 1961.143.


Aimée F. Scorziello

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

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