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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2012.1.6
Title
Inlaid Navicella Fibula
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
fibula, pin
Date
8th-mid 7th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Orientalizing period
Culture
Italic
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/186411

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy, glass or amber inlays
Technique
Cast and hammered
Dimensions
6 x 2.2 cm (2 3/8 x 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is green. Most areas are covered with brown burial accretions; the underside of the bow is still packed with dirt. The pin is lost between the catchplate and spring. Some amber has survived in the five inlay recesses.

The fibula was cast from a wax model, which was probably formed directly. The thin metal forming the catchplate was formed by cold working, as were the pin and spring coil. The five inlay recesses may have been impressed into the wax with a cylindrical tool. Residue of the original adhesive may be present.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

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
2012.1.6
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 fibula was made from one piece of metal, although part of the pin portion is now missing. The lozenge-shaped bow, curving on the top, was decorated with five brown glass or amber circular inlays, of which two remain. The side knobs of the bow are now missing. The spring is triple coiled, and the catchplate is long and very thin.

NOTES:

1. Compare A. Naso, I bronzi etruschi e italici del Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Kataloge vor- und frühgeschichtlicher Altertümer 33 (Mainz, 2003) 256-57, nos. 464-65, fig. 159, pl. 103; and V. Palone, “Le fibule navicella,” in Il Museo delle Antichità Etrusche e Italiche 3: I bronzi della collezione Gorga, ed. M. G. Benedettini (Rome, 2012) 98-125, esp. 123, no. 390, pl. 23.

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), M75, p. 175 [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