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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1992.256.100.A-B
Title
Two Sandaled Feet
Classification
Furniture
Work Type
attachment
Date
1st-3rd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304522

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
A: 7.5 x 2.3 x 2.1 cm (2 15/16 x 7/8 x 13/16 in.)
B: 7.8 x 2.2 x 2 cm (3 1/16 x 7/8 x 13/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Leaded Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead
Other Elements: iron, antimony
Comments: The feet have the same elements.

K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina on both feet is green, black, and blue, with red corrosion and tan burial deposits. Both feet are complete. Minor losses have occurred, such as to the edges of the holes on the bottom of the feet.

The feet were cast. The surface designs appear to have been done in the wax model prior to casting. The holes were made after casting. The hole on the back of the left leg has brown corrosion products that look like iron corrosion.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Louise M. and George E. Bates
Accession Year
1992
Object Number
1992.256.100.A-B
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
These two hollow feet and ankles, which were likely paired in antiquity, probably belonged to a piece of furniture and would have been used in groups of three or more (1). Each foot and ankle forms an obtuse angle. The back of each hollow ankle has a circular hole drilled in it to secure its attachment. There is also a larger hole with irregular edges on the bottom of each foot. Each foot wears a sandal that wraps around the ankle, with a trapezoidal shape depicted over the metatarsals. There are additionally several thin straps depicted going between the ankle and the sole on the sides of both feet. The toes are long and somewhat thick; individual joins and nails are indicated with incised lines. The sole of the sandal is not visible on either foot.

NOTES:

1. See J. W. Hayes, Greek, Roman, and Related Metalware in the Royal Ontario Museum: A Catalogue (Toronto, 1984) 174-75, nos. 285-86, which the author notes may have been the feet of folding stools due to the angle of the legs. For examples of this type of foot still attached to furniture, see S. A. M. Mols, “Furniture Attachments Shaped Like Human Feet,” in Akten der 10. Internationalen Tagung über antike Bronzen: Freiburg, 18.-22. Juli 1998, ed. J. Ronke (Stuttgart, 1994) 293-96.


Lisa M. Anderson

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