Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
This object does not yet have a description.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1932.56.19
Title
Spike with Inverted Cup-Shaped Head
Classification
Furniture
Work Type
attachment
Date
3rd century BCE-3rd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303834

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
3.8 x 2.7 x 2.7 cm (1 1/2 x 1 1/16 x 1 1/16 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is black and green with a few small areas of cupritic reddish-brown corrosion accretions. The object’s surface is covered with large amounts of sandy burial accretions, which conceal evidence of its condition and method of manufacture.

The spike was probably cast. Although one of the crossbars in the cup-shaped head seems to bear traces of a mold-line, the other one does not. It is more likely that it was cast indirectly and that the crossbars were added in the wax. The shaft and point may have been hammered to extrude and harden it.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Dr. Harris Kennedy, Milton, MA (by 1932), gift; to the William Hayes Fogg Art Museum, 1932.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. Harris Kennedy, Class of 1894
Accession Year
1932
Object Number
1932.56.19
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 short spike has a cup-shaped head on a tapering shaft (1). Within the head, there is a bar that forms a loop, possibly for securing a decorative cover for the head.

NOTES:

1. Although the function of the object is unclear, it might be compared with S. Boucher and H. Oggiano-Bitar, Le trésor des bronzes de Bavay (Lille, 1993) 68-69, nos. 50-66, thought to be decorative nails for furniture.


Lisa M. Anderson

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Objects

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