Terminal Ornament
Description
Object Label: That this finial or ornament belonged to an item of furniture is clear from the elaborate fittings, but both the identity of the original complete object and the exact symbolism of the duck or goose head remain unknown. Both types of fowl had sexual associations. Whatever its significance, the finial is apparently unique. Its fastidious modeling is characteristic of the Ptolemaic Period. Caption: Terminal Ornament, 305–30 B.C.E.. Bronze, 12 5/8 × 6 5/8 in. (32.1 × 16.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 54.101. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A bronze terminal ornament shaped like a rearing bird-headed form (likely an avian/human-headed terminal) mounted on a modern display stand.
The image shows a dark green bronze object with a patinated surface, photographed against a museum background. The upper portion is formed into a head and torso-like element: a rounded head with a prominent beak-like projection and a long, tapering neck. From the midsection extends an elongated curved appendage that tapers to a point, giving the impression of a bird’s leg/wing or a stylized grasping form. The lower part is cylindrical with a stepped collar and base, consistent with an attachment or handle-like terminal fitting. No clear hieroglyphic inscriptions, cartouches, or Greek/Coptic/Arabic text are visible in this view. The object is consistent with the catalogue’s designation as a terminal ornament in bronze, though precise deity identification cannot be confirmed from the image alone.
Connections
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 54.101 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3602 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.