2012.1.33: Bone Stylus
Artists' Tools
This object does not yet have a description.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2012.1.33
- Title
- Bone Stylus
- Classification
- Artists' Tools
- Work Type
- artist's tool
- Date
- 1st-4th century
- Period
- Roman Imperial period
- Culture
- Roman
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/178240
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Bone
- Technique
- Carved
- Dimensions
- 8.55 cm (3 3/8 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- The Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (before 1970-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University
- Accession Year
- 2012
- Object Number
- 2012.1.33
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
-
Circular-sectioned bone stylus. The pointed end for writing is cone shaped. The shaft tapers from the pointed end to the other end, where it has a sphere-shaped finial, which is somewhat flat on one side, for erasing.
- Commentary
- A stylus of this type would have been used to write on a Roman tablet; tablets were made of wood with a wax-covered surface. The wax surface made the tablet reusable, and the rounded end of the stylus could be used for "erasing" text.
Publication History
- John Crawford, Sidney Goldstein, George M. A. Hanfmann, John Kroll, Judith Lerner, Miranda Marvin, Charlotte Moore, and Duane Roller, Objects of Ancient Daily Life. A Catalogue of the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection Belonging to the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, ed. Jane Waldbaum, Department of the Classics (unpublished manuscript, 1970), BI9, p. 129 [J. A. Lerner]
Verification Level
This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu