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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2005.184
Title
Large Dagger
Classification
Weapons and Ammunition
Work Type
dagger
Date
25th-24th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Anatolia
Period
Bronze Age, Early
Culture
Anatolian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/144751

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Arsenical copper
Technique
Cast and hammered
Dimensions
17.1 x 2.7 cm (6 3/4 x 1 1/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 1 and Tracer
Alloy: Arsenical Copper
Alloying Elements: copper, arsenic
Other Elements: tin, iron, silver, antimony
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina is dark brown with patches of raised green corrosion and spots of underlying red. Large areas of bright metal are visible. The rough line of the sharpened edge is the result of losses due to corrosion. There are also losses to the top end of the tang. Long, crude scratches and chatter marks throughout are the result of mechanical cleaning.

The blade was probably cast and then refined and hardened by hammering. Although the object’s surface was damaged by cleaning, the refined shape indicates the surface was probably finely finished. The hole in the tang is poorly preserved, and it is not clear if it was drilled or punched.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Purchased by David Gordon Mitten at the bazaar in Izmir, Turkey, during the summer of 1960.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of David Gordon Mitten in memory of W. C. Burriss Young
Accession Year
2005
Object Number
2005.184
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
This flat, triangular blade has a central midrib that is uniform in width from tip to tang (1). The blade has slightly rounded shoulders. The tang is relatively wide with a slight taper and is broken at the end. There is a circular perforation at the center of the tang for securing it to a handle.

NOTES:

1. Compare M. Comstock and C. C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Greenwich, CT, 1971) 392-93, nos. 539-41; and J. Thimme, ed., Kunst und Kultur Sardiniens vom Neolithikum bis zum Ende der Nuraghenzeit, exh. cat. Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe; Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte der Staatlichen Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin (Karlsruhe, 1980) 413-15, nos. 218-25.

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