Vessel Attachment in the Form of a Snake with Two Heads

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Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Period	Ptolemaic period to Roman Imperial
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient)
Century	4th century BCE-4th century CE
Culture	Hellenistic or Early Roman
Dimensions	9 cm (3 9/16 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

The attachment is in the form of a two-headed serpent. The attachment forms a C-shape and is hollow and concave on the underside. Under the heads, there were two short tangs (one is broken); the extant tang is perforated, and the remains of another perforation can be seen in the broken stump of the other tang. The serpents have molded heads with forward-facing eyes and long, pointed snouts. The undersides of the heads are flat except for the tangs. The rest of the head and necks consist of a series of ridges, with a high-knotted section at the neck, followed by a section of scales. This section widens into the body, which becomes increasingly wide toward the middle. The body is made up of a series of sections with horizontal ridges, giving the sections a rope-like appearance.

Lisa M. Anderson

TechnicalDetails

Chemical Composition

Technical Observations

The patina is mostly dark brown on the upper surface with some localized areas of green corrosion products. There are also a few spots of cuprite, such as where a chip in the patina on the nose reveals deep mineralized material. The underside of the object has more green areas and is partly covered with burial accretions. This piece is in good structural condition and much of the surface is well preserved. The small rectangular feature attached to the middle of the edge on the underside appears to have been flattened after its creation. One of the perforated tabs projecting from below the snake heads is broken; it was probably weakened by the hole that was made through it. 
 
This object was cast in one piece by the lost-wax process. The rough form of the snake was created in a mold that may already have contained the shapes of the broader ridges. The details in the snake heads and the patterns on the body were drawn in the wax with a pointed tool. The necks and heads were bent slightly in the wax stage to raise them in relation to the body. Segments of the rim that project above the end of the ridges may be evidence of wax that projected above the mold. Small thickenings of the metal around a small rectangular feature on the middle edge of the underside and on one of the tabs below the snake heads suggests that they were modeled onto the hollow wax body before it was invested and cast. What appears to be threading of the tabs is perpendicular to its sides, and therefore probably served more to enhance the “bite” with whatever material they were joined. It is not clear to what this object would have been joined. The small dents on the inside of the body at the height of the small rectangular feature may be the result of cold working that element.
 
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2001)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop