Reproduction of a Sarmatian plaque in the form of an elk

Reproduction of a Sarmatian plaque in the form of an elk

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Electrotyping is a chemical process used historically to make high quality reproductions of works of art. During the Victorian era, one of the main producers was Elkington & Co. of Birmingham. They were licensed by the South Kensington Museum of London (now the Victoria & Albert Museum) to produce replicas of objects from royal treasuries and museums across Europe. The electrotypes approved by the Department of Science and Art, a British governmental agency, carry Messrs. Elkington’s mark in the form of an official stamp in metal. This modern electrotype is a copy of a gold plaque in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. The original was probably found in 1864 in the Khokhlach kurgan (burial mound) in the vicinity of Novocherkassk, one of the largest cities of the Don region. It was part of a group of precious objects – a crown, collars, ornaments, cups, flacons or perfume-boxes – known as the “Treasure of Novocherkassk” and thought to be the burial of an elite Sarmatian woman in the first century A.D. Sarmatian objects are decorated with animal imagery comparable to the earlier Scythian “animal style” and frequently enhanced with colored inlays. The plaque in the form of an elk, probably used as a clothing ornament, was originally inlaid with turquoise. In the nineteenth century, many museums collected copies of ancient and historical works of art with the aim of presenting outstanding works to a broader public and to serve as inspiration for artists and manufacturers. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, founded in 1870, began to acquire electrotypes in its first decade. In 1883, Henry Marquand, a collector and early patron of the Museum, funded a large purchase from Elkington & Co. of nearly three hundred pieces. Today, these works are part of many departments in the Museum and along with plaster casts reflect the history of collecting and the role of the museum as a locus for the teaching of art history.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Reproduction of a Sarmatian plaque in the form of an elkReproduction of a Sarmatian plaque in the form of an elkReproduction of a Sarmatian plaque in the form of an elkReproduction of a Sarmatian plaque in the form of an elkReproduction of a Sarmatian plaque in the form of an elk

The Met's Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art cares for approximately 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the emergence of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Objects in the collection were created by people in the area that today comprises Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Yemen, and Central Asia. From the art of some of the world's first cities to that of great empires, the department's holdings illustrate the beauty and craftsmanship as well as the profound interconnections, cultural and religious diversity, and lasting legacies that characterize the ancient art of this vast region.