Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 88.85; Sn, 10.44; Pb, 0.07; Zn, 0.002; Fe, 0.04; Ni, 0.06; Ag, 0.02; Sb, 0.06; As, 0.44; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.017; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer
Technical Observations: The patina is green with underlying red. Much of the surface is covered with grayish burial accretions. The reign ring is intact. The surface is obscured overall by rough corrosion layers, but most of the relief features are readable. In several areas where the green corrosion layer has flaked off, a white metal is visible. The cast metal is a reddish-bronze color, as visible in the hole drilled for sampling, but the surface may have been enriched or clad in a secondary metal, such as tin.
The wax model for the rein ring appears to have had its components assembled in the wax by working directly. A bulge at the bottom of the ring, at the point where the ends of a wax rod were joined after creating the ring shape, may be due to the enlargement of this element. The felines are slightly concave on the reverse, and it is possible they were formed by pushing wax into a mold. Incised lines and other details may have been enhanced by cold working, but the condition of the surface makes this difficult to determine.
Henry Lie (submitted 2012)
