40. Pendant: Ram’s Head

Provenance

–1976, Gordon McLendon (Dallas, TX), donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1976.

Condition

The head is in good condition, intact with small chips at the tips of the horns and overall fine surface cracking. A portion of the base is broken away. Wear, degradation, and a varnishlike coating (applied before entry into the Getty Museum collection) have obscured some finer details. One inclusion is visible at the nose. In ambient light, the head is dark brown with a reddish tint; in transmitted illumination, it is bright red-brown where translucent.

Description

The pendant form and the animal are very similar to the rams 76.AO.82 (cat. no. 39) and 77.AO.81.7 (cat. no. 41). Four lines cross the nose and slope down toward the corners of the mouth. Beneath the eyes are three small incised folds that curve toward the ear. The chin slopes smoothly upward under the overhanging upper lip; the underside of the chin is flat. The horns are relieved from the fleece. The missing horn tips would have turned outward. The poll, the cheeks, and the back of the head are cross-hatched. The horns are well elevated above the skull, and their ridges are closely spaced straight grooves extending two-thirds of the way from the root to the tip. Two additional rings occur at the midpoint of the last third of the horns. In comparison to 76.AO.82, the ears are upright, the muzzle is longer, and there is a more prominent rise or bump on the bridge of the muzzle.

Two 1.5 mm perforations at opposite edges of the back do not meet, suggesting that they were drilled after a metal mount was placed on the amber. A 3 mm stopped bore of indeterminate purpose is drilled into the back. The collar is bordered by a molded detail consisting of a small fillet surmounted by an ovolo topped by another fillet. There are clear abrasion marks in the molding.

Discussion

See the entry for 76.AO.82.