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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1995.844.22
Title
Fist-Shaped Amulet
Classification
Amulets
Work Type
amulet
Date
1st-3rd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/287303

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
1.6 x 0.6 x 0.4 cm (5/8 x 1/4 x 1/8 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is dark greenish black. The details seem crisp, and the surface is mostly smooth, although there are also some green corrosion accretions. Only a few areas of the surface are visible, as much of it is covered with gray burial remains, some of which have a glassy appearance. The black copper sulfide crystal growth is from the post-excavation storage environment. The object was cast in one piece by the lost-wax process.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of David and Genevieve Hendin
Accession Year
1995
Object Number
1995.844.22
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 amulet consists of a small fist making the fica gesture at the end of a short loop (1). A raised torus separates the loop from the fist. Phallic amulets could have decorated a variety of objects, from horse trappings to lamps (2). Their symbolism provided them with an apotropaic, protective function (3).

NOTES:

1. For more on the fica gesture, see S. Seligmann, Der böse Blick und Verwandtes: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Aberglaubens aller Zeiten und Völker (Berlin, 1910) 186-88, figs. 175-79.

2. P. M. Allison, The Insula of the Menander at Pompeii 3: The Finds (Oxford, 2006) 33. For lamps, see L. Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, ed., Il bronzo dei Romani: Arredo e suppellettile (Rome, 1990) 190 and 270, no. 55, figs. 161-62, where a triple amulet is part of an elaborate hanging lamp, which also includes several bells and an ithyphallic figurine.

3. M. Kohlert-Németh, Römische Bronzen 1: Aus Nida-Heddernheim, Götter und Dämonen, Archäologische Reihe 11 (Frankfurt am Main, 1988) 66-68.


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