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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1920.44.219
Title
Ring
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ring
Date
8th-5th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Argolis?
Period
Geometric period to Classical
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303835

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Mixed copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
5.1 x 0.6 cm (2 x 1/4 in.)
28.8 g
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Mixed Copper Alloy:
Cu, 71.63; Sn, 8.24; Pb, 10.16; Zn, 9.2; Fe, 0.56; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.08; Sb, 0.08; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, 0.011

J. Riederer

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Mixed Copper Alloy
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead, zinc
Other Elements: iron, silver, antimony

K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina of 1920.44.219 is dark green, and the surface is well preserved. The corrosion products are a preserved matte texture, which does not appear to have been scraped down.

Because of their heavy weight, the rings (1895.202.A, 1895.202.C, 1920.44.219, and 1977.216.2123.13) appear to have been cast. However, there is no physical evidence of casting. All of these rings are at least slightly non-circular, especially 1977.216.2123.13 and 1895.202.C, the two heavier rings. The gentle ridges on these four rings are carefully planned as subtle decorative elements, each ring with a slightly different profile of facets. The ridges, although smooth, show slight irregularities. These seem more consistent with finishing the wax or pre-wax model by turning rather than cutting the metal ring with a turning process.


Henry Lie (submitted 2002)

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
1920.44.219
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
Thick, cast rings of varying sizes were common offerings in Greek sanctuaries during the later Geometric and Archaic periods. These heavy rings cannot be explained as finger rings or bracelets, nor do the find contexts suggest other practical functions. When found in burial contexts, they do not form part of the adornment of the dead. Like the oversized dress pins of the Geometric period (compare 1947.33.4), the rings appear to have been deposited in sanctuaries and graves for their metal value. It has been suggested that they constituted a pre-monetary form of currency (1). The rings in the Harvard collection do not confirm the standardized ratio of diameter to weight assumed in the relevant study. As their findspots are not known, it cannot be excluded that the one or the other was in fact a ring handle or part of a buckle. Some credibility may be given to their reported provenance from the Argive Heraeum, since three out of the four rings were presented to the museum by family members of one of the Heraeum excavators (2).

The ring has a slightly beveled, octagonal section.

NOTES:

1. See C. Waldstein, ed., The Argive Heraeum 1 (Boston, 1902) 61-62; and P. Dakoronia, “Rings – Pre-Monetary Forms of the Geometric Period,” Archaiologik­ē Ephēmeris 1989: 115-20 [in Greek].

2. Compare the “innumerable” rings excavated at the Argive Heraeum published by H. F. de Cou, “The Bronzes of the Argive Heraeum,” in The Argive Heraeum 2, ed. C. Waldstein (Boston, 1905) 191-332, esp. 251-63, nos. 975-1524, pls. 90-91.


Susanne Ebbinghaus

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

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