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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1947.33.3
Title
Miniature Plate
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
mid 8th-6th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Argolis, Heraion (Argolis)?
Period
Geometric period to Classical
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/291280

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Repoussé
Dimensions
5.5 x 4.4 x 0.65 cm (2 3/16 x 1 3/4 x 1/4 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: nickel, arsenic/lead, iron

K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina is light blue, green, and dark gray, with some cupritic areas. Grayish-tan soil accretions, which are most likely burial remains, are preserved on much of the surface. The surface is distorted overall with small pustules of corrosion, some of which are broken. The plate is distorted and cracked; one of the handles and one of the tips are broken off, the other handle is bent, and there is a loss on part of the rim. The metal at the breaks appears to be mineralized, and the black spots along their edges and in a few other areas on the piece are copper sulfide crystals that were caused by post-excavation storage conditions.

This plate was formed in one piece from sheet metal, which was cut out to form the handles and four extending tips adjacent to these. Two rows of evenly spaced raised dots—one on the front, the other on the reverse—form a raised circular decoration in the middle of the plate. These are created with a pointed punch. The distortion of the metal caused by the tooling—on both the front and the back of the plate—is typical of repoussé work.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Mary H. Buckingham, (by 1947), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1947.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mary H. Buckingham
Accession Year
1947
Object Number
1947.33.3
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
A thin bronze sheet has been cut into the shape of a plate with two handles and decorated with stippling. The reflex handles have pointed returning ends. Two rows of raised dots border the rim of the plate; the transition to the bottom is achieved by a line of dots struck from the top. A line of raised dots appears to have embellished the handles, and there is one large dot in the center of the plate. The same shape is represented by a number of regular-sized clay and bronze plates from the late Geometric and Archaic periods. Miniature or “token” vessels such as this plate were common votive offerings in Greek sanctuaries. Approximately 30 comparable sheet bronze plates are known from the Argive Heraeum, where this example is also said to have been found (1).

NOTES:

1. H. F. de Cou, “The Bronzes of the Argive Heraeum,” in The Argive Heraeum 2, ed. C. Waldstein (Boston, 1905) 191-332, esp. 275-77, nos. 1857-59, pls. 108-109. For the provenance, see the remarks on 1947.33.4, which is from the same donor.


Susanne Ebbinghaus

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