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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1987.135.30
Title
Coiled Band with Interlocked Ring
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
jewelry
Date
9th-8th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Iron Age
Culture
Italic
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303912

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast and hammered
Dimensions
5 cm (1 15/16 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is an uneven, varied green, and some areas have chipped off, revealing a brown metal. Traces of tan burial material are present. The band is formed from a single wire of uneven section that was bent back on itself at its midpoint and curled into a doubled coil. The ends taper and are twisted together, forming a point. The wire is faceted, and there is a suggestion of a linear microstructure.

The ring, which is strung onto the band, is made in one piece as well. The ring has no evidence of joins and was probably cast. It has a somewhat flattened, uneven section and is faceted. The patina of the ring is a more aquamarine color than the band, suggesting it was made of a different alloy.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Nagler
Accession Year
1987
Object Number
1987.135.30
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
A small ring is attached to this coiled band. The band is made of a long wire that has been bent double and coiled into two spirals, making the band four wires thick. The ends of the wire are twisted to bind them together. The smaller ring moves freely around the spiral band.

Although a specific use for the bands is not known, in the cases where they have been excavated, they have been found in pairs in female graves (1).

NOTES:

1. See F. Jurgeit, Die etruskischen und italischen Bronzen sowie Gegenstände aus Eisen, Blei, und Leder im Badischen Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, Terra Italia 5 (Pisa, 1999) 595, no. 1013, pl. 276; and K. Kilian, Früheisenzeitliche Funde aus der Südostnekropole von Sala Consilina (1970) 188-89, type R4a, pls. 43, 61, 78, and 89. Similar bands, such as Kilian’s type R4b, also have small rings attached, like 1987.135.30; see ibid., pl. 23, Gr A55. Compare also A. M. Bietti Sestieri and E. Macnamara, Prehistoric Metal Artefacts from Italy (3500-720 BC) in the British Museum (London, 2007) 19 and 195, “bracelet” type 4, nos. 638-44; a ring is attached to no. 638.


Lisa M. Anderson

Publication History

  • Julie Wolfe, "Analysis of Iron Age Bronze Fibulae from Southern Italy in the Collection of the Harvard University Art Museums" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, June 1998), Unpublished, p. 1-14 passim.

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