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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1995.844.8
Title
Triple Phallic Amulet
Classification
Amulets
Work Type
amulet
Date
1st-3rd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304417

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Mixed copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
3.8 x 7.9 x 1.1 cm (1 1/2 x 3 1/8 x 7/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Mixed Copper Alloy:
Cu, 81.4; Sn, 7.26; Pb, 6.63; Zn, 4.13; Fe, 0.19; Ni, 0.05; Ag, 0.08; Sb, 0.26; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is green with heavy brownish gray burial accretions. The surface is rough and is entirely obscured by corrosion products and accretions. The object was cast from a model made directly in the wax.


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
1995.844.8
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 amulet consists of a stylized phallus and fist combination with a second phallus in the center, which is depicted with testicles under an irregular loop (1). The lateral phallus is simple, with no indication of the head; the fist is obscured by corrosion, but the fingers are making the fica gesture. The smaller central phallus and testicles are modeled. The amulet is flat on the back and was probably an element of a horse harness.

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. nos. 2. 29-196-14, 29-196-18, and 29-196-19; British Museum, London, inv. nos. 1814,0704.1237 and 1976,0818.20; Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv. nos. Fr. 1356, Fr. 1360, and Fr. 1378; M. Kohlert-Németh, Römische Bronzen 1: Aus Nida-Heddernheim, Götter und Dämonen, Archäologische Reihe 11 (Frankfurt am Main, 1988) 68, no. 1; E. Deschler-Erb, Ad arma! Römisches Militär des 1. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. in Augusta Raurica, Forschungen in Augst 28 (Augst, 1999) 75 and 166, nos. 539-440, fig. 85, pl. 27; A. Kaufmann-Heinimann, Die römischen Bronzen der Schweiz 5: Neufunde und Nachträge (Mainz, 1994) nos. 327-29; and N. Franken, “Die antiken Bronzen im Römisch-Germanischen Museum Köln: Die Fragmente von Grossbronzen und die figürlichen Bronzegeräte,” Kölner Jahrbuch 29 (1996): 7-203, esp. 108-109, nos. 118-20, figs. 206-208.

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. See Kohlert-Németh 1988 (supra 1) 66-67.


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