Harvard Art Museums > 2012.1.7: Die Recreational Artifacts Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Die , 2012.1.7,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 19, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/178272. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2012.1.7 Title Die Classification Recreational Artifacts Work Type game piece Date 1st-4th century Period Roman Imperial period Culture Roman Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/178272 Location Location Level 3, Room 3620, University Study Gallery View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Ivory Technique Carved Dimensions 1.4 x 1.3 cm (9/16 x 1/2 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Walton Brooks McDaniel, New Jersey (?-1943/46), gift; to the Department of the Classics, Harvard University (1943/46-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012. Note: Walton Brooks McDaniel gave a portion of his collection to the Department of the Classics in 1943 and the rest in 1946. The Collection is named for his late wife, Alice Corinne McDaniel. 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 2012.1.7 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description Six-sided ivory die. The numbers on each side are indicated by patterns with incised concentric circles and a central dot. Intact, some wear at the corners. Commentary LIVE LIKE A ROMAN: DAILY LIFE OBJECT COLLECTION Cubical six-sided dice in bone and ivory, which were used as games as well as for casting lots, are common throughout the Greco-Roman world from at least the seventh century BCE. Most bone dice are small in size, due to the dimensional limitations of the material. On a cubical dice, values were marked with dots, drilled holes that could be filled with colored paste, or ring and dot motifs, as in this case. Double ring and dot motifs are by far the most common. The values were arranged so that opposite faces total seven (6-1, 5-2, 4-3). Dice are rarely perfectly cubical in shape, and values are often not regularly spaced. 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), BI54, p. 146 [J. A. Lerner] Exhibition History 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 02/13/2015; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/22/2022 - 05/08/2022; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/20/2024 - 05/05/2024 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
