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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1920.44.18
Title
Dagger Blade
Classification
Weapons and Ammunition
Work Type
dagger
Date
3rd-late 2nd Millennium BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Bronze Age
Culture
Unidentified culture
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303678

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
16.3 x 3.2 cm (6 7/16 x 1 1/4 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina on one side is a rough and gritty green with some exposed red cuprite. The other side consists predominantly of brown burial encrustations. The blade is very corroded, and the tang is broken off. The blade was probably made by casting and hot working. Two rivets used to attach the blade to a handle are preserved in the corrosion products.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Miss Elizabeth Gaskell Norton, Boston, MA and Miss Margaret Norton, Cambridge, MA (by 1920), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1920.

Note: The Misses Norton were daughters of Charles Elliot Norton (1827-1908).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Misses Norton
Accession Year
1920
Object Number
1920.44.18
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The blade is double edged with two copper alloy rivets present above the shoulder before it narrows into the tang. The blade seems to be intact except for a break at the tang. There is a raised midrib on each side of the blade extending from the rivets to the tip. The rivets would have bound the separately made hilt to the blade (1).

NOTES:

1. Compare K. Pászthory and E. F. Mayer, Die Äxte und Beile in Bayern, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 9.20 (Stuttgart, 1998) pl. 101.12.

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