1968.88: Torc with Loop Ends
JewelryIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1968.88
- Title
- Torc with Loop Ends
- Classification
- Jewelry
- Work Type
- necklace
- Date
- late 2nd-mid 1st Millennium BCE
- Places
- Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
- Period
- Iron Age
- Culture
- Near Eastern
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/221581
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Technique
- Hammered
- Dimensions
- 13 x 12.3 x 0.8 cm (5 1/8 x 4 13/16 x 5/16 in.)
- Technical Details
-
Technical Observations: The patina is a very dark green, and there are gray burial accretions in many areas. Although there are areas of etching and loss, much of the surface is well preserved. The torc was formed by twisting a tapered, hammered rod. The loop ends were made by hammering the ends flat and then bending them into loops.
Henry Lie (submitted 2012)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- Richard R. Wagner, gift; to the Fogg Museum, 1968.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Richard R. Wagner
- Accession Year
- 1968
- Object Number
- 1968.88
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The terminals of this torc are flattened and curl to form an open loop on each side; one side is filled with encrustation. The majority of the torc is twisted, while the areas adjacent to the loops are straight. The diameter of the metal tapers slightly from the central point toward each terminal.
It is difficult to suggest a date or geographic region for this type of simple torc, which was used over a wide geographic and temporal span and is rarely found in scientific excavations (1).
NOTES:
1. See E. De Waele, Bronzes du Luristan et d’Amlash: Ancienne collection Godard, Publications d’histoire de l’art et d’archéologie de l’Université Catholique de Louvain 34 (Louvain-la-Neuve, 1982) 186-87 and 246, nos. 308 and 414, figs. 153 and 230. Compare also M. Novotná, Halsringe und Diademe in der Slowakei, Prähisorische Bronzefunde 11.4 (Munich, 1984) 30-38, nos. 258-75, pls. 39-43; and P. König, Spätbronzezeitliche Hortfunde aus Bosnien und der Herzegowina, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 20.11 (Stuttgart, 2004) pls. 32.3, 68.12-13, and 69.14-15.
Lisa M. Anderson
Subjects and Contexts
- Ancient Bronzes
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