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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1931.6
Title
Finial with Heraldic Lions
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
10th-8th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Luristan (Iran)
Period
Iron Age
Culture
Iranian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/311088

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
15.6 x 6.7 x 1.4 cm (6 1/8 x 2 5/8 x 9/16 in.)
Exterior diameter tube: 0.7 cm (1/4 in.)
Inner diam. ring top and bottom: 1 cm (3/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 88.44; Sn, 9.88; Pb, 1.43; Zn, 0.003; Fe, 0.09; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.05; Sb, 0.06; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.013; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, iron, calcium
Comments: Both the cylinder/pin and the main body were analyzed and found to have the same elements.

K. Eremin, January 2014

Chemical Composition: EMP analysis from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 90.00; Sn, 8.04; Pb, 0.47; Zn, 0.00; Fe, 0.05; Ni, 0.02; Ag, 0.03; Sb, 0.03; As, 0.02

T. Richardson, June 1999

Technical Observations: The patina of the finial is green and light green with spots of red and black. There are also brown burial accretions. The central tube is broken at one end and partially lost. It has a patina and accretions identical to the finial.

As with the other Luristan finials, the irregular and fluid character of the design elements indicates direct work in the wax model. The wax would have been worked over a central cylindrical core, providing an open area for the tube or pin used to secure the finial to a support (see 2005.78.A-C). The decorative incisions were made in the wax model.

The felines’ tails are twisted from two tin rods of wax, and there are tool marks on the neck of one of the felines. The central tube is a roll of sheet bronze with an overlap of 2 mm, and no solder is present at this overlap. There are long striations or tool marks going down the tube under the corrosion layers. The sheet metal may have been filed down to 0.5 mm in thickness prior to being cut and rolled into a tube.


Henry Lie and Tracy Richardson (submitted 1999, updated 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Private Collection, Boston, (by 1931), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1931.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Charles Bain Hoyt
Accession Year
1931
Object Number
1931.6
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
This finial is comprised of two rampant, confronted lions, joined at the forepaws and hindpaws around rings that would have once held the pin of the finial. The stylized lions have long, arching necks and cylindrical bodies with flat hindlimbs. The lions stand on their hindlimbs, which have lumps to indicate joints, with their tails hanging straight in twisted lines and ending in single spirals. The necks have a raised, beaded ridge along the spine. The heads are small with short, rounded ears, large eyes indicated by raised dots, and open snarling mouths that reveal large canine teeth; unlike the other lion finials (188.1972.A and 1953.210), they do not have spurs of metal in their mouths.

Publication History

  • Tracy Richardson, "A Technical Study of Luristan Bronzes From Ancient Iran" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, June 1999), Unpublished, pp. 1-15 passim

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