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Head of griffin
Greek
Archaic Period
late 7th–early 6th century B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Samos
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Dimensions
Height: 13.3 cm (5 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by contribution
Accession Number01.7472
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
Catalogue Raisonné
Greek, Etruscan, & Roman Bronzes (MFA), no. 408; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 124 (additional published references).
DescriptionThis well-preserved griffin protome has a scale pattern on much of its surface. The head of the beast, with its open beak, protruding tongue, hollow eyes, forehead knob and pointed ears, rests atop a curving neck. The ring at the base of the neck preserves two of the pins that would have once secured the protome to the rime of the cauldron. The object is hollow cast.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: W. H. Forman Collection; inherited from him by Mrs. Burt and then, about 1889, by A. H. Browne; by 1900: with Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, 13 Wellington Street, Strand, London (auction of the Forman Collection, part 2, July 2-5, lot 598); by 1901 with Edward Perry Warren; purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, December 1901