NEW YORK, NY.- The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Republic of Iraq announced today preliminary findings from a collaborative research project into a copper-alloy sculpture from ca. 2500 BCE, Vessel Stand with Ibex. The ibex in the center of this extraordinary work of art is among the oldest known examples of the use of a clay core in casting a human or animal figure by direct lost wax casting—an innovative breakthrough that enabled the creation of large and complex metal sculptures and continues to be used by artists today. While later large-scale castings from the ancient world have been extensively studied, the much earlier examples from Mesopotamia have not been fully examined until now.

The Vessel Stand with Ibex was purchased by the Museum in 1974 and was displayed nearly continuously for decades. Recent provenance research by the Museum’s scholars established that the work rightfully belongs to the Republic of Iraq, prompting the Museum to reach out to H.E. Nazar Al Khirullah, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the United States of America, and offer to return the work. In the course of subsequent discussions, The Met and Iraq agreed to jointly pursue research on the sculpture.

“The Met is honored to collaborate with the Republic of Iraq on this research, advancing understanding of a historically significant technique which has impacted artmaking in cultures across the world,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Director and CEO. “We are grateful to His Excellency Nazar Al Khirullah and his team at the Embassy—as well as many colleagues in Iraq—for our ongoing conversations and collaboration. We look forward to continuing our shared dedication to fostering knowledge and appreciation of Iraqi art and culture, particularly as we look ahead to the renovation and reopening of our galleries for the art of Ancient West Asia and Ancient Cyprus in 2027.

His Excellency Nazar Al Khirullah, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the U.S., stated: “The return of the Ibex statue to Iraq is not merely a cultural event; it is an affirmation of our natural place as the cradle of civilization. This piece, crafted by our ancestors, carries the spirit and genius of Mesopotamia that helped shape human history. Its recovery does justice to Iraqi heritage and offers a renewed opportunity to present the richness of our culture to the world. These findings not only showcase the exceptional artistic and technical mastery of the makers of Mesopotamian civilization; they also underscore the enduring depth and significance of this civilization as a cornerstone of human history—revealing, for the first time, one of the earliest and most important artistic techniques used in the production of metal artifacts. We value Iraq’s partnership with U.S. governmental and non-governmental institutions—especially The Metropolitan Museum of Art—in advancing research that highlights the creativity of ancient Iraq and inspires future generations around the globe.”

Researching the Ibex

In a collaborative project with the Republic of Iraq, a vessel stand featuring the figure of an ibex at its center, which has been dated to the Early Dynastic II period (ca. 2500 BCE), was CT scanned at the Fraunhofer-Institute für Integrierte Schalttunen IIS in Fürth, Germany, providing significantly more detailed information than standard radiography. The ibex figure is of particular interest as, to date, it is known to be the earliest surviving intact sculpture from the ancient world that was cast around a clay core.

The 3D scan obtained is currently being studied by J-F de Lapérouse, Conservator in The Met’s Object Conservation Department, and Roaa Abbas Kadhim, an archaeologist at the Iraq Museum, with the technical assistance of Nils Reims and Michael Bohler of Fraunhofer. Their research will elucidate the details of how the ibex was produced; the results of this examination will be published, and the 3D scan will be adapted to illustrate the expertise of early Mesopotamian casting to the public.

Kim Benzel, Curator in Charge of the Department of Ancient West Asian Art, said: “Our collaboration with Iraq on this research of Vessel Stand with Ibex has been instrumental in furthering our understanding of ancient craftsmanship and artmaking techniques. This research once again affirms the formative, consequential, and still relevant contributions of Mesopotamia to our collective histories and helps trace the enduring legacies of its cultural practices. Equally as meaningful to us at The Met has been a deepening of the warm and cooperative relationship with our Iraqi colleagues through this joint research project—a powerful example of restitution as opportunity. We are exceedingly grateful for the partnership we have forged together.”

While the origins of lost wax casting extend back into the 5th millennium BCE, it was the innovation of hollow core casting that enabled the casting of naturalistic life-sized metal sculptures. Before that time, large metal sculptures were made by nailing worked metal sheets onto a wooden core. Technical studies of two hollow-core castings from Akkadian period (ca. 2350–2150 BCE)—the Sargon Head in the collection of the Iraq Museum and the Head of a ruler in The Met collection—have been published. The current project has provided a 3D model of an even earlier hollow core lost wax casting from the Early Dynastic III period (ca. 2600–2350 BC), thus enhancing our knowledge of the beginning of this innovative metalworking technology. This research will be published and made accessible to the public—possibly as an interactive in-gallery or online feature.

The Met previously partnered with the Republic of Iraq in 2024 on the return of another Sumerian sculpture dating to ca. 2500 BCE—a copper-alloy depiction of a man carrying a box, possibly for offerings—after provenance research by Met scholars established that the work rightfully belongs to Iraq; the Museum also returned three ancient sculptures to Iraq earlier this year.

Developments in Metal Casting Techniques in Mesopotamia

The development of unprecedented metal casting techniques in Mesopotamia during the 3rd millennium BCE (3000-2000 BCE) represents one of the highest technical achievements of the ancient world. Working with the limited raw materials available to them, artisans in ancient Iraq aspired to cast large and even life-sized metal sculptures for the first time. Compositional analyses indicate that during this period, they were using copper with a small amount of arsenic—a material significantly more difficult to cast than bronze alloys containing tin and lead, which only became commonly used when tin became more accessible. The physical record of their challenges and achievements is retained within the few sculptures that survive from this period. While later large-scale castings from the ancient world have been extensively studied, the earlier examples from Mesopotamia have not been fully examined until now.

Although lost-wax casting had been practiced since the 5th millennium BCE, it had been limited to solid objects of modest size. Large metal sculptures, such as the bull figures that decorated the mid-3rd millennium (ca 2500 BCE) temple at Tell al-‘Ubaid in Mesopotamia, could only be created by nailing worked metal sheets onto a wooden core. It was the innovation of hollow core lost wax casting that enabled the production of the first larger metal sculptures with naturalistic details made possible when modelling in wax. Having a core in place within the wax model not only reduced the amount of metal required but more importantly increased the chance that a mold could be filled entirely with molten metal before it began to solidify.