SculptureSyro-Hittite3rd-2nd millennium BCE

Group of Four Human Figures

c. 2000 BCE

Description

A “bunch” of four figures sprouting from a shared, unformed base. Two larger figures with male genitalia are framed by two smaller, presumably female figures. The men have more prominent hands that could have held weapons or other objects, while the outstretched arms of the women extend over the male bodies. The flat figures simplify the human body. They appear to have been formed individually in wax, assembled as a group, and cast in copper alloy in the direct method. The group was cast upside down: the base represents the funnel or "casting cup" through which the hot metal was poured into the mold. The faces were created by pinching the wax; a tool was used to define the lower edge of the nose; and the eyes were created from pellets. The heads are concave at back, the bodies flat. The patina is dark brown with thin grayish green areas and light brown accretions.

Classification

Sculpture

Technique

Cast, lost-wax process

Medium

Copper alloy

Culture

Syro-Hittite

Period

Bronze Age, Middle

Century

3rd-2nd millennium BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

8.7 × 5.4 × 1 cm (3 7/16 × 2 1/8 × 3/8 in.)

Provenance

[Charles D. Kelekian, New York (by 1952-1982)], by descent; to [Kelekian Associates, New York (1982-1992)], by descent; to Nanette Rodney Kelekian, New York (1992-2021), bequest; to the Harvard Art Museums. NOTE: "Kelekian Associates" was formed at the death of Charles D. Kelekian by Nanette Rodney Kelekian and her mother Beatrice Kelekian. Upon Beatrice Kelekian’s death in 1992, ownership passed to Nanette Rodney Kelekian.