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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1920.44.171
Title
Olpe Handle
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Fragment of Handle
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
handle
Date
7th-2nd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Archaic period to Hellenistic
Culture
Etruscan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303890

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
14.5 x 5.2 cm (5 11/16 x 2 1/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 91.12; Sn, 8.58; Pb, 0.07; Zn, 0.01; Fe, 0.05; Ni, 0.02; Ag, 0.02; Sb, less than 0.05; As, 0.11; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.028; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina features thick and warty green, red, and brown corrosion and encrustations. The handle is intact with two rivet attachments remaining, which mark the place of attachment to the vessel. The handle is solid cast with the grooved design probably created in the wax model. The thick corrosion and encrustations make it difficult to see holes or other evidence of the rivets at the vessel rim and of mechanical attachments at the base of the handle.


Carol Snow (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
1920.44.171
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
It is difficult to date such a simple fragment. Vessels of this type are found from the Archaic to Hellenistic periods throughout the Mediterranean (1). The handle loops upward and then tapers straight down for attachment to the curving body of the olpe. The handle was cast with three flutes running down the length of the handle. The bottom of the handle ends in a pointed spade shape, marked off by a horizontal line.

NOTES:

1. Compare M. Comstock and C. C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Greenwich, CT, 1971) 318-19, no. 444.


Marina D. Haworth

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