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This a a cross shaped piece of metal that has greened over time. There are decorative spheres on the top three points of the cross shape.

This is a cross shaped piece of metal that has become green with discoloration. on the top point and on both side points of the cross are decorative sphere shapes. There are horizontal, parallel incized marks going down the top half of the vertical shaft of the cross. The bottom half of this shaft is flattened into a rectangular shape that is twice as wide as the upper half. There is a decorative, vertical line down the center of the flattened bottom half. There four evenly spaced, circular pits on the very bottom of the flat part of the shaft, arranged in a square shape.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1992.256.107
Title
Crossbow Fibula
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
fibula, pin
Date
first half 4th century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304550

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded brass
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
2.8 x 5.5 x 9.1 cm (1 1/8 x 2 3/16 x 3 9/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Brass:
Cu, 76.25; Sn, 0.61; Pb, 10.48; Zn, 12.18; Fe, 0.37; Ni, 0.05; Ag, 0.05; Sb, less than 0.05; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.01; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is pale green with some brown corrosion. The object is intact, although there is a crack in the pin.

The body of the fibula was cast, probably by the lost-wax process, with the surface designs created in the wax model, while the pin was made separately by hammering. The central knob was cast separately and joined mechanically. The flat end of the pin is held in the body of the fibula by a thin rod, which seems to have been inserted in one end of the crossbar. This interior pin may have been iron, as there are iron corrosion products visible, but it is no longer magnetic. The clasp was hammered over slightly. The surface shows rough finishing marks.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Louise M. and George E. Bates, Camden, ME (by 1971-1992), gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1992.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Louise M. and George E. Bates
Accession Year
1992
Object Number
1992.256.107
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
The three knobs of this crossbow fibula are oblate spheres with central raised points (1). The head knob was made separately and attached, while the lateral knobs seem to be integral with the crossbar. Beaded borders separate the knobs from the crossbar. The crossbar is rectangular in section, and it is decorated on the top by a series of raised ridges. The separately made pin is attached to the fibula by a hinge that is secured to a wire rod inserted through the crossbar. The bow of this example is decorated by a row of punched chevrons; an additional beaded border is present at the juncture of the bow with the catchplate. The row of punched chevrons continues on the long catchplate, with six circles—two near the bow and four near the foot—with short linear borders flanking the row.

Crossbow fibulae were used in the Roman world from the third through sixth centuries CE (2). The distinctive fasteners, often decorated with prominent onion-shaped knobs, may have been status symbols, as indicated by examples in gold and the famous relief of the fourth-century Roman general Stilicho in Mantua, where crossbow fibulae are clearly rendered on the shoulders of the general and his son (3). Some examples were gilt hollow copper alloy—giving the illusion of the prestigious material without being as expensive or heavy (4).

NOTES:

1. Compare E. Keller, Die spätrömischen Grabfunde in Südbayern, Münchner Beiträge zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte 14 (Munich, 1971) 35-36 (type 2), fig. 12; P. M. Pröttel, Die spätrömischen Metallfunde, Römische Kleinfunde aus Burghofe 2 (Rahden, 2002) 92, nos. 27-28, pl. 3; and S. Schmid, Die römischen Fibeln aus Wien (Vienna, 2010) 48 and 118-19, nos. 259, 261-62, 266, and 268-70, pls. 32-34.

2. See R. Hattatt, Brooches of Antiquity: A Third Selection of Brooches from the Author’s Collection (Oxford, 1987) 282-88; B. Deppert-Lippitz, “A Late Antique Crossbow Fibula in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” Metropolitan Museum Journal 35 (2000): 39-70; and P. Dandridge, “Idiomatic and Mainstream: The Technical Vocabulary of a Late Roman Crossbow Fibula,” Metropolitan Museum Journal 35 (2000): 71-86.

3. See P. von Rummel, Habitus barbarus: Kleidung und Repräsentation spätantiker Eliten im 4. und 5. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 2007) 206-13, fig. 12.

4. 1978.495.37 may be an example of one of these.

Lisa M. Anderson

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/17/2017 - 05/08/2017; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/22/2022 - 05/08/2022

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