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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1920.44.245
Title
Earring
Other Titles
Alternate Title: small package of Etruscan fragments (ring)
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
earring
Date
late 4th-mid 3rd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Hellenistic period, Early
Culture
Etruscan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/221566

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
0.5 x 2.3 cm (3/16 x 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is light green with areas of underlying black exposed. The earring is significantly mineralized with several small losses and pits. Many areas of the surface are well preserved. The boss end and the general shape were probably cast from a model made directly in wax. This was probably then flattened, finished, and bent into the circular shape by cold working.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Miss Elizabeth Gaskell Norton, Boston, MA and Miss Margaret Norton, Cambridge, MA (by 1920), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1920.

Note: The Misses Norton were daughters of Charles Elliot Norton (1827-1908).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Misses Norton
Accession Year
1920
Object Number
1920.44.245
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
The earring consists of a simple flat strip, slightly convex on the exterior, that is bent into a circle. One end is slightly pointed, while the other is shaped like a stylized flower or bell. Comparable examples are known from Etruscan areas such as Orvieto and Tarquinia (1).

NOTES:

1. M. Bonamici, Orvieto: La necropoli di Cannicella, Studi e materiali di archeologia orvietana 1 (Rome, 1994) 220; a pair from the necropolis of Crocefisso del Tufo is in the Museo Claudio Faina, Orvieto, inv. no. 1579.


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