Animal Plaque

1 of 1

Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Alternative Title	Ram
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia
Century	1st millennium BCE
Culture	Central Asian?
Dimensions	3.6 x 1.8 x 6.3 cm (1 7/16 x 11/16 x 2 1/2 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

This simple, stylized animal would have been attached to something by means of the two loops on its back at the shoulders and the rump. The head of the animal is disproportionately small, with prominent curving ears or horns on the side of the head and a short snout (1). No features of the face are visible. The body narrows at the waist, where there is a thin vertical line, and expands at the rump, which is round and disproportionately large. The animal has a long, curling tail. The four legs are rather thick, narrowing at the ankles and again at the feet or hooves, which narrow to points. 
 
NOTES:
 
1. Compare U. Jäger and S. Kansteiner, Ancient Metalwork from the Black Sea to China in the Borowski Collection (Ruhpolding, 2011) 142, no. 201, a carnivore plaque from the Caucasus, first millennium BCE.
 
Lisa M. Anderson

TechnicalDetails

Chemical Composition

Technical Observations

The patina is dark green with spots of red and blue. An underlying black surface is visible in many areas. The surface is slightly obscured by the green corrosion products.
 
The simple shapes appear to have been cut and formed directly in the sheet of wax that served as a model for the lost-wax casting. The reverse is flat, but the front has been smoothed into somewhat more three-dimensional shapes. The two loops were added to the back of the wax model before investing and casting. There may have been minor cold working to the feet and the incised line that runs vertically on the torso.
 
Henry Lie (submitted 2011)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Carol Hebb and Alan Feldbaum