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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1920.44.306
Title
Spiral Bracelet with Incised Decoration
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
bracelet
Date
8th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Boeotia
Period
Geometric period
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303974

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Hammered
Dimensions
h. 3.2 x diam. 5.5 x w. (of band) 1.2 cm (1 1/4 x 2 3/16 x 1/2 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, iron, arsenic

K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina is predominantly a smooth grayish green, with some lighter green areas; there are also tan and gray burial accretions stuck to the surface.

This bracelet was probably formed in a single piece from a fine rod that was approximately the diameter of the thicker terminals at the ends of the bracelet. The flat bulk of the bracelet was hammered into a thin sheet of metal that is broader toward the center and tapers near the ends. The bracelet terminals are round-sectioned, elongated elements (1.45 to 1.6 cm long). The outside of the band is decorated with incised lines.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

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
1920.44.306
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
This bracelet or armlet consists of a flat ribbon of metal in two coils with molded terminals. Each terminal consists of an oval bead that tapers into a cylindrical rod. Each edge of the exterior of the band is bordered by two incised lines, between which is a tremolo pattern composed of the minute delicate rocking zigzag lines of a scorper, the type of incising tool with a curving tip that is so often used to decorate the catchplates of fibulae and other flat bronze objects in the late Geometric period. Therefore, this bracelet, which retains the original springiness of its metal, appears to be the product of a Peloponnesian or central Greek workshop, perhaps in Boeotia, dating to sometime during the eighth century BCE (1).

The bracelet was probably one of a pair and could have been a votive offering made in a sanctuary or placed in a grave.

NOTES:

1. Compare I. Kilian-Dirlmeier, Kleinfunde aus dem Athena Itonia-Heiligtum bei Philia (Thessalien) (Mainz, 2002) 53-54, nos. 844-61, pls. 55-56; and H. Philipp, Bronzeschmuck aus Olympia, Olympische Forschungen 13 (Berlin, 1981) 205-206, nos. 756-57, pl. 12 (from Olympia and attributed to a Boeotian workshop), with exhaustive comparisons and bibliography.


David G. Mitten

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