The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 1, 2024

Vessel Ornament of Banqueter

Vessel Ornament of Banqueter

c. 400–375 BCE
bronze
Overall: 5.1 x 1.8 cm (2 x 11/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Ernest Brummer 1989.38
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This reclining male banqueter demonstrates the posture of symposium guests.

Description

This bronze banqueter figurine was one of six once adorning the rim of a large basin, now lost. Cast in molds with individualized details, most have grooves on their underside to attach to the basin. Minute traces of gilding remain on areas of clothing and skin (mostly visible only under magnification), suggesting that they may have been completely gilded. Two handles in the form of hippocampi, horses with serpentine tails, also belonged to the basin and are now displayed at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. The basin may have been used to hold liquid for a banquet, or was perhaps funerary.

This bronze figurine lies on his side in the posture of an ancient banqueter. His right arm is broken off but may once have rested on his hip. The figurine wears a garland on his head and a himation draped loosely around his left shoulder, revealing a muscular chest. One leg is raised over the other and a foot is exposed. Specks of gilding remain on the chest and head, but is different in color than that on the other five figurines. Also unlike the others, this one bears a visible seam across its entire length and has no groove underneath.
  • ?-1908
    Collection of the Marchese di Riofreddo e Gagliardi
    ?-1943
    William R. Hearst, sold to Brummer Gallery
    1943-1949
    Brummer Gallery, New York, NY, sold to H.K. Montif
    1949-?
    H.K. Montif
    ?-1989
    From the Ella Bache Brummer Collection, New York, NY, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1989-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Casa di Vendite Jandolo et Tavazzi (Rom). Catalogo delle pregevoli collezioni di oggetti d'arte e mobili antichi, spettanti al Signor Marchese di Rioffreddo ed ai Signori Gagliardi di Firenze. [1], [1]. 1908. No. 517
    The Brummer Gallery Records. Cloisters (Museum), n.d. N5415 libmma.contentdm.oclc.org
    Galerie Koller Zürich. The Ernest Brummer Collection, Vol I: Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art. 1979. No. 547E, cat: 95-97
    E. H. T. "The Year in Review: Selections 1989." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 2 (1990): 38-78. p. 66, no. 8 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=Vessel Ornament of Banqueter|url=false|author=|year=c. 400–375 BCE|access-date=01 December 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.38