46. Pendant: Ram’s Head 49)—are attributed here to the same hand and are thus described as a group in this entry. (The previous head 77.AO.81.15, cat. no. 45 is also likely by the same hand.) Three—77.AO.81.16,77.AO.81.17, and 77.AO.81.19—are nearly identical in weight, mass, type, form, and style. All four have nearly identical plastic suspension devices incorporated into the pendant design: in each, a hole is drilled through the neck, and not through the device. 77.AO.81.18 is slightly different, showing a greater affinity to live sheep, the head being higher and deeper, and the angle of the lower skull more natural. The other three heads are in comparison longer and narrower in profile and more slender in top or bottom view. Identical Accession 77.AO.81.16 features of all four include the shape of the hollow eyes— Number hemispheric concavities with heavy overhanging lids. All Culture Italic four have fleece indicated on the poll, the back of the neck, and the cheeks, with fine, irregularly spaced cross- Date 500–400 B.C. hatching. The horns of each are carinated from base to tip Dimensions Length: 32 mm; width: 16 mm; depth: 13 mm; in a chevron pattern, and in each small ears lie directly on Weight: 3.5 g the horns. On the upper side, the ears are cut away, Subjects Ram leaving small, shelflike plateaus. On each, the rendering of the ears and the horns is especially careful. The head of 77.AO.81.16 is longer and more slender than the heads of Provenance the other three. On all four, tiny V-shaped incisions indicate the nares. –1977, Gordon McLendon (Dallas, TX), donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1977. Traces of tools remain on all the pendants, indicating the Condition use of a sharp tool (or sharp edge) for the cross-hatching, a graver, and abrasive materials for the polishing. Inside The pendant is intact, with only minute chips at the tip of one of the sets of holes, the marks of a drill are apparent. the left ear and at the tip of the right horn. There is On all four of the pendants in this group, the hole for crazing overall. Several cracks are visible, most notably suspension is located in the neck, very near to the plane under the left side of the chin. There is a small vertical of the back. The holes range in diameter from 1.62 mm to crack extending across the left side of the mouth. The 2.2 mm. All four pendants would have hung nose piece has been treated with amber oil. The surface is a downward. dark, dull red. In transmitted light, the pendant is dark Discussion red but does not itself transmit very much light. No inclusions are evident. The differences among the pendants of this group are Description probably owing to the form of the original drops of amber from which they were made. In the case of this pendant, This head and the following three—77.AO.81.17 (cat. no. the blank must have been more rectangular than those of 47), 77.AO.81.18 (cat. no. 48), and 77.AO.81.19 (cat. no. the other three. 252
Ancient Carved Ambers in the J. Paul Getty Museum Page 261 Page 263