Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

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.

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. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Title

Terminal Ornament

Date

305–30 B.C.E.

Period

Ptolemaic Period (probably)

Geography

Place made: Egypt

Medium

Bronze

Classification

Furniture

Dimensions

12 5/8 × 6 5/8 in. (32.1 × 16.8 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

54.101

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