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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2002.60.20
Title
Bracelet
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
bracelet
Date
5th-1st century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Iron Age
Culture
Celtic
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/141658

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
1.2 x 7.2 cm (1/2 x 2 13/16 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: Both bracelets (2002.60.19 and 2002.60.20) are decorated by a repeated nodular band made to look like a sequence of alternating rounded and cylindrical concave beads, and with larger slightly hollowed cup-like elements at each end, which face each other but are not joined.

Both bracelets (2002.60.19 and 2002.60.20) have a mottled dark brown, green, and red patina, with green and red corrosion pustules and in some cases corresponding pits, all of which are convincing signs of antiquity. Each bracelet was cast in one piece. Exactly how the models were shaped is not clear, but the forms do seem to have been modeled in the wax. The surfaces are very worn, but some decorative patterns are preserved: crescent-shaped and curved line impressions on the rounded parts, and rounded punch marks on some of the beaded areas. It is not clear whether the decorations were made in the wax or the metal.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
W. C. Burriss Young, Cambridge, MA, bequest; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 2002.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of W.C. Burriss Young
Accession Year
2002
Object Number
2002.60.20
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 is decorated with twelve raised bead shapes. The sides of the beads are decorated with what appear to be incised wavy lines, but these are fairly worn. Between each bead is a saddle shape. The terminals, which do not join, flare into hollow drums (1).

NOTES:

1. The bracelet is identical to 2002.60.19, and its decoration is similar to, although less elaborate than, that of 1992.312, 1992.313, 1992.314, and 1992.315. For general discussion of the use of simple bracelets in the ancient world, see C. Johns, The Jewellery of Roman Britain (London, 1996) 118-20.


Lisa M. Anderson

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

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