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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1977.216.3140
Title
Lid of an Inkwell
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Stud small disc with attachment
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
cover
Date
1st century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period, Middle
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304101

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast and hammered
Dimensions
1.3 x 2.3 cm (1/2 x 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is green with spots of black. The surface is obscured in areas with corrosion products. There are small losses at the edges of the disc.

The disc has a center punch mark at the top and an incised line 1 mm from the outer edge. It was probably cut from a hammered sheet and then finished and incised by turning. The small knob was cast. It was fastened using a hole in the disc and then peened tight at the bottom where it projects through the hole


Henry Lie (submitted 2001)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Henry W. Haynes collection, Boston, MA, (by 1912), bequest; to the Harvard University Department of Classics, (1912-1977), transferred; to Fogg Art Museum, 1977.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, Bequest of Henry W. Haynes, 1912
Accession Year
1977
Object Number
1977.216.3140
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 circular lid has a pomegranate or poppy-shaped knob on the top for lifting (1). The line around the edge of the disc appears to be decorative. The lid would have protected the ink inside an inkwell from spilling or drying.

NOTES:

1. There is a very similar lid on an inkwell in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; see M. Comstock and C. C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Greenwich, CT, 1971) 324, no. 454 (inv. no. 65.910; said to have been found in a Macedonian tomb).


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