52. Finial(?): Ram’s Head Description This ram is schematically rendered in comparison to most of the other ram pendants in the Getty collection. It has a broad, semicircular nose and a very low forehead. The muzzle is long and rounded. The horns divide into broad, flat volutes; the ridges on the horns are indicated by five deep and widely spaced horizontal incisions. The ears are represented by sunken amygdaloidal cavities beneath the horns near the top of the head rather than at the sides. A deep incision over the eye and an equally deep incision over the cheek are devices that serve to raise the eye away from the plane of the face. On the back is an oval Accession 77.AO.81.12 raised section of amber delineated with five grooves Number (perhaps a pseudo-suspension finial). Culture Italic There is wearing on the prominent surfaces, but the marks of a graver remain on the cheeks, throat, and chin. Date 500–400 B.C. The grooves on the back appear to have been made by a Dimensions Length: 41 mm; width: 27 mm; depth: 29 mm; sawlike rasping with a straight edge. There are two Weight: 11.1 g perforations through the pendant, either of which may Subjects Jewelry; Ram have been used for suspension. A small bore, 1 mm in diameter, passes laterally through the pendant at the base of the head; the nostrils are perforated with a 2 mm bore. Provenance Discussion –1977, Gordon McLendon (Dallas, TX), donated to the J. This ram has no parallel known to me for the morphology Paul Getty Museum, 1977. of the animal or the style. I also know of no other pseudo- Condition suspension finial. The pendant is of considerable size, one of the largest known, and is comparable to the two largest The pendant is intact and in good condition, although the pendants from the sixth-century B.C. Braida di Vaglio surface is worn, as if from handling. The surface of the Tomb 102.1Two unusual aspects of this pendant are its amber appears to be crazed, and fissures are visible on two sets of holes and the wear on its prominent areas. It is the underside of the pendant. There is a small chip loss to also the only example that has a perforation through the the lower edge of the nose, and a shallow fissure runs nose. This pendant may have been used at some time as a partially across the back. Numerous small scratches mar finial for a necklace, since it is not uncommon for finial the surface and may be the result of heavy polishing. The heads to meet nose to nose in ancient gold jewelry. pendant appears to have been treated with amber oil. In ambient light, the amber is red-brown. Some slight NOTES subsurface cracking is visible and the piece is bright red in transmitted light. Many inclusions are present. 1. For the amber from Tomb 102 at Braida di Vaglio, see introduction, n. 276. For the ram’s head, see Bottini and Setari 2003, p. 40, no. 134, pl. XLVI. 258