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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1964.12.36.A
Title
Finger Ring
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
ring
Date
8th-2nd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Sardis (Lydia)
Find Spot: Middle East, Türkiye (Turkey), Western Türkiye (Turkey)
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304140

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
1.6 x 2.3 x 1.4 cm (5/8 x 7/8 x 9/16 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The ring is fragmentary, and it is impossible to tell whether it originally had a closed or open hoop. The patina is brown with areas of green; a small remnant of tan burial accretion is stuck to the inside of one of the ends of the hoop. Black flecks on the surface are copper sulfide resulting from the post-excavation storage environment.

The ring appears to have been cast in one piece and reworked in the metal. The decorative patterns on the face of the bezel were cut into the metal with a fine, sharp engraving tool or chisel or both.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Brought from Sardis; by Frederick Marquand Godwin, New York, (by 1914), by descent; to his wife Dorothy W. Godwin, New York (1914-1964), gift; to the Fogg Museum of Art, 1964.

Note: Frederick M. Godwin was the photographer for the excavations at Sardis with Howard Crosby Butler in 1913 and 1914.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mrs. Frederick M. Godwin
Accession Year
1964
Object Number
1964.12.36.A
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This finger ring fragment has a low circular bezel, which is incised with an oval surrounded by lines (1). The flat hoop is decorated and missing a section. The design on the bezel may represent an eye or the shell of a turtle.

NOTES:

1. Compare H. Philipp, Bronzeschmuck aus Olympia, Olympische Forschungen 13 (Berlin, 1981) nos. 634 and 669, pls. 11 and 43.


Lisa M. Anderson

Publication History

  • Jane Waldbaum, Metalwork from Sardis: The Finds through 1974, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1983), p. 153, no. 1013, pl. 58.

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