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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2012.1.126
Title
Goldsmith's Punch
Classification
Artists' Tools
Work Type
punch
Date
2nd century BCE-1st century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Hellenistic period, Late, to Early Roman Imperial
Culture
Roman?
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/176406

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
5.6 x 2.2 x 1.9 cm (2 3/16 x 7/8 x 3/4 in.)
Technical Details

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

Technical Observations: The patina is dark grayish green with brown burial accretions and spots of red. The surface is well preserved. The flat back opposite the relief face has mushroomed out at the edges from being struck by a hammer and parts of this edge have fractured off, possibly during the period of use.

The object is a solid cast from a wax model made in a mold. There appears to have been little direct work in the wax or cold work in the metal.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Dr. F. Bassermann-Jordan, Deidesheim, Rhineland-Palatia, first quarter of the 20th century. Purchase, [Axel G. Weber, Kunsthandel GMBH, Cologne, mid 1990's-1998], sold; to The Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (1998-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University
Accession Year
2012
Object Number
2012.1.126
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
The punch is an irregular rectangular block, with one end bearing the head and neck of a woman. The raised relief image, on the more regular, square end, depicts a woman's head frontally. Her hair is pulled back, and she may wear a diadem. Her brow, eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, and chin are clearly modeled and naturalistic. Her neck is bare; the ears are not visible. The raised points of the head show some wear.

This type of block may have been used as a matrix to create decorations depicting the woman’s head in relief in sheet metal, perhaps for jewelry (1).

NOTES:

1. Compare M. Y. Treister, Hammering Techniques in Greek and Roman Jewellery and Toreutics, Colloquia Pontica 8 (Leiden, 2001) figs. 12-30, 39.1-13, and 81.


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