Add to Collection

Add this item to an existing or new collection.
Harvard Art Museums
Incorrect Username, Email, or Password
This object does not yet have a description.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2012.1.45
Title
Knife
Classification
Tools and Equipment
Work Type
knife
Date
8th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Iron Age
Culture
Italic
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/178401

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Hammered
Dimensions
11.32 x 1.28 cm (4 7/16 x 1/2 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is dark green with areas of light green over black. There are also some black copper sulfide crystals that resulted from post-excavation storage conditions. A few parallel chatter marks from polishing or later cleaning are visible.

The blade was fashioned by hammering out a piece of metal to create an edge. The tip is somewhat worn and might be rounded from use or perhaps broken. The surface retains a polished finish, which may in part be due to waxing.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2011)

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
2012.1.45
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This knife has one edge and a curved, undulating shape. The metal thins toward the edge and the point. The tang is short and rectangular in section and may be broken. The small size of the knife and the thinness of the blade suggest that it might have been used for personal or ritual purposes.

A similar knife is known from Bologna and dated to the 8th century BCE (1). The handle of the Bologna example forms a ring, as do many others of this type.

NOTES:

1. Bennaci-Caprara, grave 34; see F.-W. von Hase, Die Trensen der Früheisenzeit in Italien, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 16.1 (Munich, 1969) 10, no. 24-25, pl. 5.A.19. See also M. Garsson, ed., Une histoire d’alliage: Les bronzes antiques des réserves du Musée d’Archéologie Méditerranéenne, exh. cat. (Marseille, 2004) 36, nos. 33-36.


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), M128, p. 187-88 [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