PERCHED BIRD ORNAMENT

Description This round sculpture depicts a bird of prey with its wings and tail open, its head raised and its claws clinging to a horizontally arranged cylindrical perch. The proportions and shape are quite realistic, although some details are missing and the body is rather flattened. The bipartite tail and wing feathers are rendered with simple lines incised in parallel. The head has a thick hooked bill, raised round eyes, and a small occipital protuberance. Under the perch, in the center, there is a round hole with raised edges: it marks the breaking point from the original support, a detachment that perhaps occurred due to the considerable weight of the sculpture. It is probably the ornament of a bronze basin. The bird rested, perhaps, on some kind of perch in the center of the vessel.