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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2012.1.53
Title
Leech Fibula with Long Catchplate
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
fibula, pin
Date
7th-first half 6th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Orientalizing period
Culture
Italic
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/177812

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast and hammered
Dimensions
1.6 x 5.4 cm (5/8 x 2 1/8 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is green with areas of botryoidal malachite. Brown soil accretions are present. The fibula appears to be deeply mineralized. Shiny surfaces are preserved in the corrosion products in some areas.

The general shape may have been cast; the catchplate, spring, and tapered pin were probably cold worked into their final shapes from the casting.


Henry Lie (submitted 2010)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
The Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (before 1970-2012), 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
2012.1.53
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 small fibula is undecorated. The bow is comparatively thin, while the sheath catchplate is fairly long and rounded at the end to cover the tip of the pin (1). The spring coils three times before turning into the pin.

NOTES:

1. Compare H. Donder, Die Fibeln, Katalog der Sammlung antiker Kleinkunst des Archäologischen Instituts der Universität Heidelberg 3.2 (Mainz, 1994) 35, 38-39, and 63-70, nos. 19 and 36, pls. 4 and 7; and A. Naso, I bronzi etruschi e italici del Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Kataloge vor- und frühgeschichtlicher Altertümer 33 (Mainz, 2003) 242, nos. 429-30, pl. 102.

Lisa M. Anderson

Publication History

  • John Crawford, Sidney Goldstein, George M. A. Hanfmann, John Kroll, Judith Lerner, Miranda Marvin, Charlotte Moore, and Duane Roller, Objects of Ancient Daily Life. A Catalogue of the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection Belonging to the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, ed. Jane Waldbaum, Department of the Classics (unpublished manuscript, 1970), M68, p. 173 [J. S. Crawford]

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