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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1985.136.B
Title
Chain
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
jewelry
Date
n.d.
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Culture
Unidentified culture
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304325

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast and hammered
Dimensions
6.2 cm (2 7/16 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is a smooth grayish green with pits of light green corrosion. There are losses and deformations. The wire was probably made by casting square rod, which was then hammered out to form round wire. Lengths of wire were then shaped to form double links, which are perpendicular to each other.


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
1985.136.B
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 small chain consists of five interlocked figure-eight links, with a single circular link on one end. It is not clear to which fibula this chain would have been attached, but fibulae worn in pairs linked with chains and other ornaments decorated with chains and pendants were used over a long period of time (1).

NOTES:

1. For Iron Age examples, see P. von Eles Masi, Le fibule dell’Italia settentrionale, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 14.5 (Munich, 1986) 47-48, nos. 397B, 401, and 404-406, pls. 24-27. For a Roman example, see R. Hattatt, Brooches of Antiquity: A Third Selection of Brooches from the Author’s Collection (Oxford, 1987) 132 and 134, no. 958. For a modern figure-eight chain, see the Portable Antiquity Scheme, inv. no. LON-6B1542 < https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/77473, accessed 18 Nov 2015>.

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