Terminal Ornament
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
That this finial or ornament belonged to an item of furniture is clear from the elaborate fittings, but both the identity of the original complete object and the exact symbolism of the duck or goose head remain unknown. Both types of fowl had sexual associations. Whatever its significance, the finial is apparently unique. Its fastidious modeling is characteristic of the Ptolemaic Period.
MEDIUM
Bronze
DATES
305–30 B.C.E.
PERIOD
Ptolemaic Period (probably)
DIMENSIONS
12 5/8 × 6 5/8 in. (32.1 × 16.8 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
54.101
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Bronze terminal ornament, detail of a larger composition, consisting of plain papyrus capital with abacus surmounted by rectangular post terminating in large head and neck of a duck. The neck is hollow with interior cross-bar for attachment. Mouth of duck open with lower bill attached to the cylindrical neck. Feathers incised on head.
Condition: Good. Broken at joining of neck to head. One small repair on head. Hollow.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Terminal Ornament, 305–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 12 5/8 × 6 5/8 in. (32.1 × 16.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 54.101. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.54.101_wwg8.jpg)
IMAGE
installation, West Wing gallery 8 installation, CUR.54.101_wwg8.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
