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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2005.185
Title
Small 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/146552

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper
Technique
Cast and hammered
Dimensions
12.2 x 2 cm (4 13/16 x 13/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Copper
Alloying Elements: copper
Other Elements: iron, arsenic
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: Most of the surface is covered with white, chalky accretions. At the edges, where the accretions have chipped off, the patina is a dark brown. Very small areas of green, red, and some bright metal are visible. The rough line of the sharpened edge is the result of losses from corrosion. There is no evidence that the piece has been cleaned.

The blade was probably cast and then refined and hardened by hammering. The area surrounding the hole in the tang is concave on one side and slightly convex on the other, which may indicate that it was 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
2005.185
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 long thin blade does not have a defined midrib, but it is thicker in the center of the blade than on the edges (1). The blade edges are almost parallel, tapering only slightly to the rounded point. A raised horizontal rib where the tang and blade meet is more prominent on one side than on the other. The tang tapers slightly to a rounded end. There is a circular perforation in 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