Bird Pendant

This bronze bird has a low crest and a flattened upward curving tail. The patina is a smooth grayish brown, with darker patches and some minor corrosion. The body is pierced vertically from the back to the underside, although the hole is now blocked with corroded material. The legs are vertical rectangular tangs spaced 0.8 cm apart. The eyes are formed by relief pellets; the upper edge of the short beak is curved. The head and neck extend diagonally forward. This type of copper alloy bird with exaggerated upward-curving tail appears in many southern and central Greek and Macedonian bronze-casting styles (1). J. Bouzek has designated this type as the peacock or domestic pullet (2). NOTES: 1. For crested peacock types with rectangular tangs from Pherai, see K. Kilian, Fibeln in Thessalien von der mykenischen bis zur archaischen Zeit, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 14.2 (Munich, 1975) 184-85, nos. 3-13, pl. 86. For a parallel example from Olympia on a round, openwork base and attributed to a Lakonian workshop, see W.-D. Heilmeyer, Frühe olympische Bronzefiguren: Die Tiervotive, Olympische Forschungen 12 (Berlin, 1979) 188, no. 942, pl. 120. For other parallels, see I. Kilian-Dirlmeier, Anhänger in Griechenland von der mykenischen bis zur spätgeometrischen Zeit, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 11.2 (Munich, 1979) 128-39, nos. 712-59, pls. 38-41; see also pls. 103A and 104A for distribution maps. See J.-L. Zimmermann, “Oiseaux géométrique de Grèce central et septentrionale,” Numismatica e Antichità Classiche (Quaderni Ticinesi) 17 (1988): 37-53, esp. fig. 4. 2. On the solid-cast “peacock” (Pfauhahn) or “domestic pullet” (Henne) types, see J. Bouzek, “Die griechisch-geometrischen Bronzevögel,” Eirene 6 (1967): 115-39, esp. 125-39, fig. 10. Tamsey Andrews and David G. Mitten