1939.130: Spatula
Tools and EquipmentIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1939.130
- Title
- Spatula
- Other Titles
- Alternate Title: pin(?)
- Classification
- Tools and Equipment
- Work Type
- spatula
- Date
- 1st-4th century CE
- Places
-
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Antioch (Syria)
Find Spot: Middle East, Türkiye (Turkey) - Period
- Roman Imperial period
- Culture
- Roman
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/303984
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Technique
- Cast and hammered
- Dimensions
- 11.2 x 0.9 x 0.3 cm (4 7/16 x 3/8 x 1/8 in.)
- Technical Details
-
Technical Observations: The patina is black with metal showing through. The spatula end appears to have been hammered from the main shaft, which is tapered at the other end. Shallow striations in the shaft are the result of scraping it to finish the surface. The straight diagonal edge of the spatula is a finished edge and probably intentional.
Henry Lie (submitted 2010)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
-
Excavated from Antioch, sector 13-R (no. over marble pavement of W rooms, 23-4-38) (Turkey, Hatay) by the Syrian Department of Antiquities (later the Hatay government) and the Committee for the Excavation of Antioch and Its Vicinity, (1935-1939), dispersed; to Fogg Art Museum, 1939.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Committee for the Excavation of Antioch and its Vicinity
- Accession Year
- 1939
- Object Number
- 1939.130
- 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
The shaft of this spatula is circular in section and expands slightly at the handle before tapering to a truncated flattened end. The spatula blade is piriform, but it is broken and partially missing (1).
Greek and Roman medical instruments, many of which were described by ancient authors, have been found, sometimes in sets, throughout the ancient world (2). The instruments could have been used for more than one function, making precise classification difficult in some instances. A spatula is a probe with one flattened, spatula-shaped end and a probe on the other used for stirring and applying medicines, among other uses (3). Spatulae are among the most common instrument types (4).
NOTES:
1. For similar spatulae, see Los bronces romanos en España, exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Palacio de Velazquez (Madrid, 1990) 306, no. 272; and G. Gaboriau, Outils de la santé et médecine d’autrefois (Le Mans, 2003) 26.
2. J. S. Milne, Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times (Oxford, 1907) 1-9; and D. Michaelides, “A Roman Surgeon’s Tomb from Nea Paphos,” Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 1984: 315-32, esp. 321-23.
3. Milne 1907 (supra 2) 58-61; Michaelides 1984 (supra 2) 325-26; and R. Jackson and S. La Niece, “A Set of Roman Medical Instruments from Italy,” Britannia 17 (1986): 119-67, esp. 158.
4. L. J. Bliquez, Roman Surgical Instruments and Other Minor Objects in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (Mainz, 1994) 46-47.
David Smart
Exhibition History
- Antioch-on-the-Orontes: Excavating an Early Byzantine City, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection, Washington, 04/07/2010 - 10/10/2010
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