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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1932.56.34
Title
Brazier Foot with Concentric Cutout Design
Other Titles
Former Title: Handle with Concentric Cutout Design and Tapering Shaft
Classification
Furniture
Work Type
leg
Date
7th-6th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Orientalizing period
Culture
Italic
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304048

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
16.1 x 7.4 x 0.3 cm (6 5/16 x 2 15/16 x 1/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 81.4; Sn, 4.83; Pb, 13.25; Zn, 0.015; Fe, 0.04; Ni, 0.06; Ag, 0.06; Sb, 0.09; As, 0.17; Bi, 0.068; Co, 0.012; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is blue and green with surface losses that reveal underlying red. Light brown burial accretions cover 25% of the surface. The corrosion products are slightly rough in texture and hide any surface detail.

The bronze was cast from a wax model made by cutting the design in a wax sheet. The bottom-edge surface does not reveal adequate detail to determine whether or not it is a fracture. It is similar in appearance to the other edges. No means of attachment to the lost section are visible.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Dr. Harris Kennedy, Milton, MA (by 1932), gift; to the William Hayes Fogg Art Museum, 1932.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. Harris Kennedy, Class of 1894
Accession Year
1932
Object Number
1932.56.34
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
This flat vessel foot, broken at the top, becomes an openwork disc at the bottom, with a central open circle surrounded by four bean-shaped cutouts. The shaft of the foot is flat and rectangular, narrowing slightly from the top to the bottom above the circular section (1).

The round shape of the bottom of the foot is probably meant to mimic the wheels of small bronze incense carts (2), which in turn mimic larger wagons or chariots, although in this case the brazier would have been immobile.

NOTES:

1. Compare the feet of a ritual vessel in Chiusi, which are exact parallels for this piece, in D. Valeriani, Etrusco Museo Chiusino dai suoi possessori pubblicato 1 (Fiesole, 1833) 38-39, pl. 39. See also two fragmentary feet of the same style as Harvard’s at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, inv. nos. MS1655A-B.

2. Compare an example at the Walters Art Museum, inv. no. 54.166, with four rolling wheels for feet; see also H. B. Walters, Select Bronzes, Greek, Roman and Etruscan, in the British Museum, Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities (London, 1915) 57, no. 385 (inv. no. 1849,0518.31); and A. Caravale, Museo Claudio Faina di Orvieto: Vasellame (Milan, 2006) 91-94, nos. 158-62.


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