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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1995.844.7
Title
Phallic Amulet
Classification
Amulets
Work Type
amulet
Date
1st-3rd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304363

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
1.2 x 2 x 1.4 cm (1/2 x 13/16 x 9/16 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is green with areas of black. Corrosion products obscure most surface detail. The object was cast from a model made directly in wax. Some crude cold work marks from finishing the surface after casting are visible.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of David and Genevieve Hendin
Accession Year
1995
Object Number
1995.844.7
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 model of a phallus and testicles is rendered relatively naturalistically (1). No traces of a suspension loop or other method of attachment are present, indicating that this piece might have been an inlay. The object is modeled in the round.

Phallic amulets could have decorated a variety of objects, from horse trappings to lamps (2). Their symbolism provided them with an apotropaic, protective function (3).

NOTES:

1. Compare University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, inv. no. 29-196-8; A. Kaufmann-Heinimann, Die römischen Bronzen der Schweiz 5: Neufunde und Nachträge (Mainz, 1994) no. 335; and perhaps British Museum, London, inv. nos. 1814,0704.1240 and 1814,0704.1267.

2. P. M. Allison, The Insula of the Menander at Pompeii 3: The Finds (Oxford, 2006) 33. For lamps, see L. Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, ed., Il bronzo dei Romani: Arredo e suppellettile (Rome, 1990) 190 and 270, no. 55, figs. 161-62, where a triple amulet is part of an elaborate hanging lamp, which also includes several bells and an ithyphallic figurine.

3. M. Kohlert-Németh, Römische Bronzen 1: Aus Nida-Heddernheim, Götter und Dämonen, Archäologische Reihe 11 (Frankfurt am Main, 1988) 66-67.


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