Harvard Art Museums > 1986.573: Plate Fibula with Incised Catchplate Jewelry Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Plate Fibula with Incised Catchplate , 1986.573,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 18, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/303873. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1986.573 Title Plate Fibula with Incised Catchplate Other Titles Former Title: Bow Fibula Fragment: Bow Classification Jewelry Work Type pin, fibula Date 8th century BCE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Thessaly Period Geometric period Culture Greek Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/303873 Physical Descriptions Medium Copper alloy Technique Cast, lost-wax process Dimensions 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.7 cm (3 1/16 x 3 1/16 x 11/16 in.) Technical Details Technical Observations: The patina is light green with spots of red. The object is a solid cast; with no evidence of a join, the flat plate appears to have been cold worked after the fibula’s overall shape was cast. The wire spring is square in section and was probably cut from a sheet prior to being bent into a coil. It is lap joined to the end of the casting with the aid of a pin. The incised decorations in the plate were formed in the metal using a smooth point for the larger straight lines and a punch for most of the shorter lines. The semicircles were cut using a flat chisel point. Individual hammer marks are visible along the semicircles. Henry Lie (submitted 2000) Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Nagler Accession Year 1986 Object Number 1986.573 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums The best parallels for this fibula are from Pherai, Thessaly (1). Its leech-shaped body, oval in section, is surmounted at its highest point by a bead with a raised ring at the top. Two other raised rings, one at each end of the body, set it off from the catchplate on one side and from the pin on the other. The pin is square in section. The top edge of the rectangular catchplate dips down and then curves up, forming a jutting tab with a beaded finial. On side A of the catchplate, the incised decoration shows a stag facing right, its head pointed upwards, and its front and back legs held apart as if in movement. Vertical parallel lines fill the body. Surrounding the stag is a border of dotted, concentric semicircles inside two multiple borders. The catchplate’s side B has similar multiple borders framing a meander pattern. Corrosion obscures some of the incision on this side of the catchplate, and part of its bottom edge and corner is missing. NOTES: 1. Compare K. Kilian, Fibeln in Thessalien von der mykenischen bis zur archaischen Zeit, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 14.2 (Munich, 1975) 34, no. 242, pl. 7 (from Pherai). Michael Bennett 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
