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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1992.256.85
Title
Pendant Cross
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
pendant
Date
9th-12th century
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Anatolia
Period
Byzantine period
Culture
Byzantine
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/310326

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
5 x 3.1 x 0.3 cm (1 15/16 x 1 1/4 x 1/8 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is green and reddish brown with tan burial deposits. The object is intact and has modern scratches on reverse. The cross appears to have been cast in one piece by the lost-wax process.


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
1992.256.85
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
The pendant cross has a vertical suspension loop on the top. The horizontal arms are slightly shorter than the vertical arms. The front of the cross is decorated with patterns in relief. At the end of each arm is a raised half dome. Below each dome, on the sides of the arms, are smaller circular dots. Another raised circular dot is in the center of the cross. A raised line radiates out in each direction from the central dot; each of these lines is surrounded by a raised line forming a round-edged cross. The back is flat and featureless.

This pendant would most likely have been a component in a necklace (1).

NOTES:

1. Compare six similar copper alloy cross pendants with molded interior designs from a ninth-to-twelfth-century grave in S. Westphalen, “Kleinfunde aus der Basilikagrabung am Kalekapi in Marmara Ereglisi (Herakleia Perinthos),” in Byzantine Small Finds in Archaeological Contexts, eds. B. Böhlendorf-Arslan and A. Ricci, BYZAS 15 (Istanbul, 2012) 127-35, esp. figs. 5-6; all six were found near the neck of the deceased and so were possibly all strung on the same necklace.


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