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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1992.256.61
Title
Twin Figures
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
15th-13th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Anatolia
Period
Hittite Empire period
Culture
Syro-Hittite
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/310295

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
7.1 x 4.6 x 1.4 cm (2 13/16 x 1 13/16 x 9/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 93.37; Sn, 5.09; Pb, 0.81; Zn, 0.02; Fe, 0.05; Ni, 0.03; Ag, 0.08; Sb, 0.18; As, 0.37; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.006; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The figures are solid cast. The top of one head is missing. Tool marks are present on the surface under the brown burial deposits, indicating that surface finishing was done before burial, if in fact the figures are ancient. The lack of green and red corrosion products raises some questions about the object’s authenticity. The porous black surface has a few areas of bare metal with brown burial deposits.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Louise M. and George E. Bates, Camden, ME (by 1971-1992), gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1992.

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
1992.256.61
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
Two symmetrical figures stand on a rectangular base. Their bodies are elongated cylinders with splayed legs. The outer arms project forward, while the inner arms of each wrap around the other’s shoulders. Both figures have prominent noses, oval pellet eyes, and slightly projecting chins. One figure wears a truncated conical headpiece, while the other figure wears a conical cap that curves backward.

While the gender of these figures is indeterminate, it is probable that they both represent male figures. The pointed caps suggest that the figures are deities. Such twin groups in the Levant represent clear antecedents for twin Geometric groups, such as the male and female pair in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1).

NOTES:

1. Inv. no. 63.2755; see S. Langdon, ed., From Pasture to Polis: Art in the Age of Homer, exh. cat., Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia; University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley; Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Columbia, MO, 1993) 130-33, no. 41, pl. 2.


David G. Mitten

Publication History

  • Susan Langdon, ed., From Pasture to Polis: Art in the Age of Homer, exh. cat., University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO, 1993), p. 133-34, no. 42.

Exhibition History

  • From Pasture to Polis: Art in the Age of Homer, Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri, Columbia, 10/09/1993 - 12/05/1993

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