1920.44.251: Key
Tools and EquipmentIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1920.44.251
- Title
- Key
- Other Titles
- Alternate Title: small package of Etruscan fragments (key with loop on end)
- Classification
- Tools and Equipment
- Work Type
- key
- Date
- 1st-4th century CE
- Places
- Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
- Period
- Roman Imperial period
- Culture
- Roman
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/303987
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Leaded bronze
- Technique
- Cast, lost-wax process
- Dimensions
- 3.6 x 2.1 x 0.9 cm (1 7/16 x 13/16 x 3/8 in.)
- Technical Details
-
Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 83.72; Sn, 3.85; Pb, 12.26; Zn, 0.009; Fe, less than 0.01; Ni, 0.03; Ag, 0.04; Sb, 0.09; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. RiedererTechnical Observations: The patina consists of various greens with brown deposits. The object is worn but intact. The key was made by lost-wax casting.
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
- 1920.44.251
- 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 teeth of this slide key form a right angle to the shaft, which lacks a hoop as seen on other Roman keys (1). It has three worn and rounded teeth, with some dirt still in the areas between them.
NOTES:
1. Compare 1920.44.253, 1977.216.1856, and 1978.495.41. A key of this type would usually have been suspended from a chain or rope. For the general type, compare Los bronces romanos en España, exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Palacio de Velazquez (Madrid, 1990) 271, nos. 203-204; and G. Zampieri and B. Lavarone, eds., Bronzi antichi del Museo Archaeologico di Padova, exh. cat. Museo Archeologico Padova (Rome, 2000) 188-89, nos. 357-61.
David Smart
Subjects and Contexts
- Ancient Bronzes
- Roman Domestic Art
Related Objects
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