Copper alloy (bronze or brass)

Cast

Human bust or head

3.18 cm (1.25 inch)

4.60 cm (1.8125 inch)

- cm

Mass (g)	Mass (grain)	Date of measurement	Reference	fragmented	cleaned	reference weight
192.01	2963.1004	-	www.getty.edu	No	No	Yes

Symbol	Technique	Direction	Position	Number	Synecdoche
Male figure	Shaped				Head

With his thick lips, large ears, prominent nose, and receding forehead, the man depicted on this weight embodies all the features the Greeks and Romans found unattractive. The man's head is shaven except for a long lock in the back, now mostly missing. This lock of hair, called a cirrus, marks the man as a slave. In the Aristotelian philosophy popular at the time, it was believed that a person's inner qualities, like character and intelligence, were mirrored by their exterior appearance. Beginning in the Hellenistic period in the late 300s B.C. and continuing into the Roman period, such grotesques and exaggerated caricatures were quite popular.

Designed for use with a steelyard scale, this weight is a miniature sculpture with a hollow cast bronze outer shell. The interior was then filled with lead to give the proper weight. Steelyard weights often took the form of heads or busts. Originally, the man's single lock of hair served as a loop by which this weight was suspended.

No

Language	Technique	Legend type

GREEK , ROMAN

About 1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D.

Name	Date of acquisition	Inventory number
Fleischman Collection	Jan. 1, 1990	F265
Getty Museum – Getty Villa (Malibu)	Jan. 1, 1996	96.AC.156
Symes Collection	None

Reference	Page/Column	Reference (number)	Plate / Figure	Comment
Auction Sotheby’s 1991		152A		(non vidi)
True and Hamma 1994	220	109
Getty Museum 1997–98	65

Greek or Roman weight, Eastern Mediterranean (?).

http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/29650/unknown-maker-weight-in-the-form-of-a-grotesque-head-greek-or-roman-about-1st-century-bc-1st-century-ad/