A Piper from Dura-Europos

 

This statuette represents a piper whose feet are missing. It was found in excellent preservation with only a slight oxidation. It stands with the weight on the right leg, with the left leg slightly advanced. The arms are bent at the elbows, both hands holding the instruments to the mouth. The head is turned slightly to the right. The figure is clad in a long, short-sleeved, ungirdled tunic that fits close to the form of the body. The head is bare; the short-cropped hair is blocked in as a mass of curls. The figure is cast solid and left just as it came from the mold. Surface imperfections due to casting are numerous. The easy grace and mastery of the figure, its simple flowing lines, and the treatment of hair and features all suggest work of the late fourth or early third centuries.

Provenance: Dura-Europos. 

Substance: bronze. 

Height: 97 mm . 

Era: Roman. 

Text: adapted from Rostovtzeff. 

Collection: National Museum of Damascus. 

Michael Rostovtzeff. The Excavations at Dura-Europos: 9th season, 1935-1936 (p. 160-161 fig XVI). Yale University Press 1944.

Bašīr Zuhdī. Lamḥā ʿan al-ʾālāt al-musīqīyyā al-qadīmā wa mašāhid al-mūsīqīyyīin ʿala ʾāṯārinā al-fannīyyā. Annales archéologiques arabes syriennes 1972 (pp. 81-121).