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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1984.709
Title
Oval Enamelled Fibula
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
pin, fibula
Date
2nd-3rd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304086

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
3.4 cm (1 5/16 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is a lumpy green, and there are areas of red corrosion. There is an unusual turquoise-colored material embedded in the iron corrosion products of the hinge pin.

The fibula was cast and then inlaid with glass. The smaller, raised disc containing red glass appears to have been made separately and attached to the larger disc. The metal is too poorly preserved to see how the two pieces are attached. The now-missing pin was attached by means of a hinge.


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
1984.709
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 oval disc fibula is elaborately decorated with bands of enamel and copper alloy. There is a wide bronze band around the edge of the disc and around the center bezel. Between these bands, there is a ring of alternating sections of white and blue enamel around the disc. In the center of the disc, there is a raised bezel, edged in metal and with an incuse male bust to the left impressed into red enamel. The bust is stylized and indistinct but appears to be draped and has a large chin, small nose, prominent ear, and spiked hair (1). The same bust appears on similar disc fibulae. The pin, now missing, was attached to the fibula with a hinge, and the notched catchplate is intact. This fibula type is native to Britain, and the approximately 30 known examples are all fairly similar (2).

NOTES:

1. R. Hattatt describes the bust on a similar example, found in Norfolk, UK, dated c. 300 CE, as a “Celtic type human head.” See id., Brooches of Antiquity: A Third Selection of Brooches from the Author’s Collection (Oxford, 1987) 252 and 257, nos. 1207-209; and id., Ancient Brooches and Other Artefacts: A Fourth Selection of Brooches Together with Some Other Antiquities from the Author’s Collection (Oxford, 1989) 184, no. 1653.

2. Hattatt 1987 (supra 1) 252.


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