spoon D Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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spoon D Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1932.56.11.D
Title
Spoon
Classification
Tools and Equipment
Work Type
spoon
Date
2nd-5th century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/100315

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
17.5 x 4.7 cm (6 7/8 x 1 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is grayish brown with green corrosion. Some losses to the bowl are present. The spoon was made by casting the rough shape and then working to further shape the bowl of the spoon and finish the surface.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Dr. Harris Kennedy, Milton, MA (by 1932), gift; to the William Hayes Fogg Art Museum, 1932.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. Harris Kennedy, Class of 1894
Accession Year
1932
Object Number
1932.56.11.D
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 bowl of this spoon is circular except for a slightly pointed tip at the end opposite the handle. The handle, which is rectangular in section, is undecorated except for a small pyramidal finial (1).

It is difficult to date this type of spoon closely. Examples have been published and dated to the Roman period generally (2), although others have been dated to the post-medieval period (3).

NOTES:

1. For similarly shaped spoon bowls see, G. Plough et al, Les petits objets médiévaux sauf les verreries et poteries, Hama: Fouilles et recherches, 1931-1938, 4.3 (Copenhagen, 1969) 67, fig. 26.6; and M. C. Ross, Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection 1: Metalwork, Ceramics, Glass, Glyptics Painting (Washington, DC) 2-3, no. 2, pl. 16.

2. See G. Zampieri and B. Lavarone, eds., Bronzi antichi del Museo Archaeologico di Padova, exh. cat., Museo Archeologico Padova (Rome, 2000) 198-201, nos. 397.a-s, 398.a-p, and 400.a-c. See also the range of Roman spoons in M. Garsson, ed., Une histoire d’alliage: Les bronzes antiques des réserves du Musée d’Archéologie Méditerranéenne, exh. cat. (Marseille, 2004) 42, nos. 60-65.

3. See examples recorded by Britain’s Portable Antiquities Scheme, such as nos. SOM-50DA73 and LANCUM-5C95F5, which are dated to the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries CE; and Zampieri and Lavarone 2000 (supra 2) 203, nos. 405.a-c.


David Smart and Lisa M. Anderson

Subjects and Contexts

  • Roman Domestic Art
  • Ancient Bronzes

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