Harvard Art Museums > 1978.495.61: Pin with Decorative Comb Finial Tools and Equipment Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Pin with Decorative Comb Finial , 1978.495.61,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, May 13, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/273974. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1978.495.61 Title Pin with Decorative Comb Finial Other Titles Former Title: Trident or Cadeuceus in Miniature (Comb) Classification Tools and Equipment Work Type implement Date 1st-5th century CE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World Period Roman period Culture Roman Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/273974 Physical Descriptions Medium Copper alloy Technique Cast Dimensions 17.9 x 2.6 x 0.2 cm (7 1/16 x 1 x 1/16 in.) Technical Details Technical Observations: The patina is pale green over brown with red cuprite. One end is broken off, while many tips on the comb end are also broken off. The implement was cast and worked. Carol Snow (submitted 2002) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Formerly in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, no. E-2338. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University Accession Year 1978 Object Number 1978.495.61 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 Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums One end of this object, which is perhaps a pin, is a flat, openwork vegetal design with what may be two stylized dolphins, pointed downward with their noses touching. Thin, sharp, pointed tines topped the decorative element; all but two of the tines are broken (1). The blunt tip and untapered shaft argue against an identification of the object as a pin and suggest instead that it was a decorative element of unknown function. NOTES: 1. Compare a silver example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 47.100.27; see A. Oliver, “Two Hoards of Republican Silver,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 13.5 (1965) 177-85, esp. 183, figs. 9-10. For an Egyptian example of a pin-comb combination from Sakkara in the Teti Pyramid cemeteries, see W. Hayes, The Scepter of Egypt 2: The Hyksos Period and the New Kingdom (1675-1080 B.C.) (New York, 1960) 402, fig. 253. Compare also a scraper published in N. Rauch, Instruments de chirurgie gréco-romains (Lausanne, 1961) 21, no. 75. David Smart Subjects and Contexts Roman Domestic Art 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
