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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1984.708
Title
Plate Fibula
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
fibula, pin
Date
2nd-3rd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304085

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
5.1 x 2.4 cm (2 x 15/16 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina on top of the plate is a rough and pitted green and brown over a black surface, while on the reverse it is predominantly pale green. The pin and part of the catchplate are missing.

The fibula was cast. Inlays may be present in some of the geometric design, but they are poorly preserved and now appear as olive- and dark-green corrosion products. The pin was attached to the fibula plate with a hinge at one end.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mrs. Beatrice Kelekian in memory of her husband, Charles Dikran Kelekian
Accession Year
1984
Object Number
1984.708
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
This plate fibula most likely originally bore enameled decoration that is now missing. The central diamond-shaped lozenge is molded into a checkerboard-pattern of separate areas where enamel would have been placed. A beaded line borders the lozenge. At each end of the fibula is a terminal with two concentric circle decorations and another smaller projection. The pin, now missing, was attached to the fibula by a hinge that is now fused, and the catchplate is partially broken. Fibulae of this type were common in the northern provinces of the Roman Empire (1).

NOTES:

1. Compare A. Böhme, Die Fibeln der Kastelle Saalburg und Zugmantel (Munich, 1972) nos. 955-56 (956 resembles the Harvard fibula so closely it might be the same workshop); R. Hattatt, Brooches of Antiquity: A Third Selection of Brooches from the Author’s Collection (Oxford, 1987) 202-203 and 205, nos. 1099-1100, fig. 64; and id., Ancient Brooches and Other Artefacts: A Fourth Selection of Brooches Together with Some Other Antiquities from the Author’s Collection (Oxford, 1989) nos. 1101 and 1594.


Lisa M. Anderson

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