Openwork Finial with Deer

The solid-cast bronze openwork globe is surmounted by a deer standing on a narrow, rectangular platform. The upper and lower zones of the biconical globe are divided by a horizontal band whose incised decoration, consisting of alternating groups of diagonal lines, is visible from the back where corrosion is minimal. Areas of corrosion are especially extensive on the front of the globe. Each hemisphere of the globe is pierced with eight triangular openings. A casting error on the lower half, directly in line with the front legs of the deer, creates an imperfect divide between two triangles. A stem and decorative disc project from the bottom of the globe. Below the disc is a slight projection notched into four segments, which could represent a blossom, perhaps from a pomegranate. At the top of the globe, a short column supports a narrow undecorated, rectangular base on which stands a deer or stag. The head of the animal turns to the left, while its slender muzzle turns lightly downward. Raised pellets represent the eyes. The root of the left antler is preserved, but the right is completely missing. The left ear projects horizontally backward; only the stump of the right ear remains. The deer’s front and back legs merge into two supports; the hind legs rest slightly to the left of the base. The body is horizontal and has no surface decoration; it ends in a stubby tail. Openwork globes with quadruped finials as dedications in Greek sanctuaries and as personal jewelry have been found in Balkan graves (1). An interesting parallel to the Harvard piece—a biconical globe pierced with four triangles in each half and surmounted by a horse, provenience unknown—is attributed by J.-L. Zimmermann to a Macedonian workshop of the Sub-geometric period (2). The Harvard example may be attributed to a Macedonian workshop of the Late Geometric period. NOTES: 1. On openwork bronze globes, see J. Bouzek, “Openwork ‘Bird-Cage’ Bronzes,” in The European Community in Later Prehistory: Studies in Honor of C. F. C. Hawkes, eds. J. Boardman and M. A. Brown (London, 1971) 77-104, esp. 87-89 and 99-101, fig. 13 (in Macedonia and Greece). For openwork biconical pendants with quadruped finials and their distribution, see I. Kilian-Dirlmeier, Anhänger in Griechenland von der mykenischen bis zur spätgeometrischen Zeit, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 11.2 (Munich, 1979) 118-19, nos. 647-52, pl. 34. 2. See J.-L. Zimmermann, Les chevaux de bronze dans l’art géométrique grec (Mainz, 1989) 262, no. 13, pl. 62. For further discussion, see id., “Bronziers bèotiens et cervidès géométriques,” Numismatica e Antichità Classiche 19 (1990): 9-29. Tamsey Andrews and David G. Mitten