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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1978.495.53
Title
Coil Earring with Hanging Bead
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
earring
Date
1st-5th century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/310603

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Hammered
Dimensions
1.9 cm (3/4 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is green and black. The piece does not seem to be complete. The end of the wire is broken off, and corrosion accretions distort the surface.

The wire was created by hammering, as indicated by its multiple facets and uneven thickness. It widens toward the outside of the spiral and was flattened and bent (probably around a tipped tool) to start the curve. The wire holding the bead is flattened and splayed at the ends to secure the bead, which is made of blue glass and has three white oval inlayed outlines.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Formerly in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, no. E-3674.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.
Accession Year
1978
Object Number
1978.495.53
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
This earring consists of a wire that has been wound into five coils, with the outermost coil separated from the inner coils to form the hoop (1). A blue glass bead (0.92 cm wide x 0.57 cm high) with three areas of white circles is attached to the hoop with a wire attachment similar to a cotter pin (2).

NOTES:

1. For a type of earring with a similar spiral section but without a bead, compare I. Stead and V. Rigby, Baldock: The excavation of a Roman and pre-Roman Settlement (London, 1986) 128-29, nos. 202-205, fig. 54; and C. Johns, The Jewellery of Roman Britain: Celtic and Classical Traditions (London, 1996) 134 (type 9).

2. For the style of bead, compare E. Riha, Der römische Schmuck aus Augst und Kaiseraugst, Forschungen in Augst 10 (Augst, 1990) 185-86, nos. 2793 and 2839, pls. 66 and 68.

Lisa 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