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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1991.646
Title
Circular Stand with Three Legs Alternating with Three Lion Masks
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
stand
Date
n.d.
Places
Creation Place: Unidentified Region
Period
Modern
Culture
Unidentified culture
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304333

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded brass
Technique
Cast
Dimensions
5.5 x 10 cm (2 3/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Brass:

Cu, 64.7; Sn, 0.89; Pb, 3.85; Zn, 29.45; Fe, 0.71; Ni, 0.06; Ag, 0.03; Sb, 0.11; As, 0.13; Bi, 0.033; Co, 0.025; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, 0.002

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The stand appears to be a modern fabrication as there is little evidence indicating antiquity. The piece appears to be intact. The patina is a dark gray with areas of tan.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Gerhardt Liebmann, New York, NY, (by 1989), bequest; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1991.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Gerhardt Liebmann
Accession Year
1991
Object Number
1991.646
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 small circular stand has three feet and is decorated with molded lion masks. The feet are zoomorphic, in the shape of three-toed paws with vertical folds of skin depicted on both sides of each leg. There is a raised circle above each leg that is surrounded by wing-like foliage extending away from each foot toward the lion masks between them. On either side of each head are additional raised spheres. The lion faces are depicted frontally, with prominent manes all around the carefully detailed faces. Above the lions and feet is a ring that is topped by a row of triangles, pointing diagonally outward from the top. Joins can be seen in the interior surface, indicating that the ring and triangular rim were joined to the section with the legs and lion masks.

The general form and some of the decoration may be inspired by lamp bases found in the southern Italy (1).

NOTES:

1. Compare Piccoli bronzi del Real museo borbonico (Naples, 1858) pls. 3.24-26; L. Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, ed., Il bronzo dei Romani: Arredo e suppellettile (Rome, 1990) 204-205 and 276-77, nos. 82-83, figs. 181-82; and C. Tarditi, Vasi di bronzo in area Apula: Produzioni greche ed italiche di età arcaica e classica, Università di Lecce Dipartmento di Beni Culturali Settore storico-Archeologico Collina 8 (Lecce, 1996) 24-26, 31, 116-18, and 126-28; nos. 28-30, 41, 263-64, and 266; fig. 11.

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