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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1985.156
Title
Crossbow Fibula
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
pin, fibula
Date
4th century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304099

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Mixed copper alloy
Technique
Cast and hammered
Dimensions
6.6 x 4.5 cm (2 5/8 x 1 3/4 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Mixed Copper Alloy:
Cu, 78.63; Sn, 5.32; Pb, 8.29; Zn, 6.6; Fe, 0.19; Ni, 0.05; Ag, 0.11; Sb, 0.23; As, 0.51; Bi, 0.077; Co, less than 0.01; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is greenish gray, and the object is intact. The body of the fibula was cast, probably by the lost-wax process, with the surface designs created in the wax model, while the pin was made separately by hammering. The central knob was cast separately and joined mechanically. The clasp was formed by hammering. The pin is attached to the body of the fibula by a thin rod, which seems to have been inserted in one end of the crossbar. The surface shows rough finishing marks.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Nagler
Accession Year
1985
Object Number
1985.156
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 remaining knobs of this fibula are in the shape of flattened spheres with raised central points; the head knob is missing (1). The knobs may have been made separately and attached; beaded borders separate the extant knobs from the crossbar. The crossbar is rectangular in section and is pierced twice. It is decorated on the top by a series of raised beaded bands. The separately made pin is attached to the fibula by a hinge that is secured to a wire rod inserted through the crossbar. The bow of this example is decorated with a row of incised circles separated by lines; additional molded collars are present at the juncture of the bow with the catchplate. The row of incised circles separated by lines is repeated on the catchplate and also has a line of incuse circles separated by thin notches on either side.

Crossbow fibulae were used in the Roman world from the third through sixth centuries CE (2). The distinctive fasteners, often decorated with prominent onion-shaped knobs, may have been status symbols, as indicated by examples in gold and the famous relief of the fourth-century Roman general Stilicho in Mantua, where crossbow fibulae are clearly rendered on the shoulders of the general and his son (3). Some examples were gilt hollow copper alloy—giving the illusion of the prestigious material without being as expensive or heavy (4).

NOTES:

1. Compare E. Keller, Die spätrömischen Grabfunde in Südbayern, Münchner Beiträge zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte 14 (Munich, 1971) 37-38 (type 3), fig. 12; E. Ettlinger, Die römischen Fibeln in der Schweiz (Bern, 1973) 139-41 (type 57), pl. 16.14; and S. Schmid, Die römischen Fibeln aus Wien (Vienna, 2010) 48 and 116, nos. 243-44, pl. 28.

2. See R. Hattatt, Brooches of Antiquity: A Third Selection of Brooches from the Author’s Collection (Oxford, 1987) 282-88; B. Deppert-Lippitz, “A Late Antique Crossbow Fibula in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” Metropolitan Museum Journal 35 (2000): 39-70; and P. Dandridge, “Idiomatic and Mainstream: The Technical Vocabulary of a Late Roman Crossbow Fibula,” Metropolitan Museum Journal 35 (2000): 71-86.

3. See P. von Rummel, Habitus barbarus: Kleidung und Repräsentation spätantiker Eliten im 4. und 5. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 2007) 206-13, fig. 12.

4. 1978.495.37 may be an example of one of these.

Lisa M. Anderson

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