Harvard Art Museums > 1985.133: Knee Fibula Jewelry Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Knee Fibula , 1985.133,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 20, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/304087. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1985.133 Title Knee Fibula Classification Jewelry Work Type pin, fibula Date second half 2nd-early 3rd century CE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World Period Roman Imperial period Culture Roman Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/304087 Physical Descriptions Medium Copper alloy Technique Cast and hammered Dimensions 2.7 x 1.6 cm (1 1/16 x 5/8 in.) Technical Details Technical Observations: The patina is brownish green. The tip of the pin is missing, and there is fragmentary sheet metal present at the top of the fibula. The body of the fibula was cast, probably by the lost-wax process, with the surface designs created in the wax model, while the pin was made separately by hammering. What appears to be a hammered sheet covering the coils was somehow either inserted or hammered out from the top of the cast bow section. It is fragmentary, and the join of the metal parts is obscured by corrosion. Carol Snow (submitted 2002) Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Nagler Accession Year 1985 Object Number 1985.133 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 This small knee fibula is almost intact: the pin that extends from the coiled spring is broken near the tip. The curving bow is thickest near the head, tapering toward the foot, which is upturned at the edge. The bow is rectangular in section. The rectangular catchplate is parallel to the bow and folded at the bottom to hold the pin. Named after their distinctive bent bows, knee fibulae were popular in Britain and the Danubian provinces of the Roman Empire from the second to third centuries CE (1). NOTES: 1. See R. Hattatt, Brooches of Antiquity: A Third Section of Brooches from the Author’s Collection (Oxford, 1987) 261-72, figs. 81-84; S. Ortisi, Die früh- und mittelkaiserzeitlichen Fibeln, Römische Kleinfunde aus Burghofe 2 (Rahden, 2002) 34-36, nos. 293-94, pl. 18; and D. Mackreth, Brooches in late Iron Age and Roman Britain (Oxford, 2011) 190 and 192, no. 7679, pl. 132. 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
