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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1978.495.35
Title
Crossbow Fibula
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
fibula, pin
Date
late 3rd-early 4th century
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period, Late
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/310605

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Body: Mixed copper alloy; Pin: Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
2.3 x 5.2 x 5.9 cm (7/8 x 2 1/16 x 2 5/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: Fibula
XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Mixed Copper Alloy
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead, zinc
Other Elements: iron

Pin
XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, iron

K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The surface of the object has, for the most part, a metallic appearance that is due to refinishing by filing, but it has been dulled by oxidation and in some areas by fine green and cupritic red corrosion products. The pin is worn in the areas that are in contact with the catchplate and the crossbow; the rest is smooth and coated with a shiny, dark greenish-black layer that may be corrosion. A piece of the crossbar has broken away from the center, exposing some of the rod inside it.

The fibula was cast in one piece except for the pin and the fine metal rod onto which it is hinged. Either the metal rod was inserted into the crossbar through a small opening on the end of one of the knobs, or it was inserted into the wax model coated with a fine layer of clay and with the pin already hinged on before casting. It is not clear whether the existing opening on the end of the knob is original or if it has appeared due to wear. The decorative elements on the fibula were created in the wax and then refined in the metal through filing. File marks and cuts created by the side of the file are easily distinguishable overall. The pin is made out of elongated piece of copper alloy sheet metal that has been pierced at one end, and the long edges were hammered to round the sheet out and bring it to a point.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Formerly in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, no. E-2261.

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
1978.495.35
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
All three of the decorative knobs on this rather plain crossbow fibula are intact, and all three are faceted biconical knobs (1). Unlike other examples at Harvard, the knobs in this case are integral to the bow and crossbar. The head knob is separated from the bow by a simple collar; the knobs on the crossbar are each preceded by two thin discs. The crossbar is heptagonal in section, and there is a small step prior to its connection with the bow on each side. The separately made pin is attached to the fibula by a hinge that is secured to a wire rod inserted through the crossbar; the rod protrudes through the end of the left-side knob. The bow of this example is undecorated; it is indented at the juncture with the catchplate. The relatively short catchplate is faceted on the top and has two horizontal ridges near the foot.

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) 32-35 (type 1), fig. 12; and I. Fauduet, Fibules préromaines, romaines et mérovingiennes du Musée du Louvre, Études d’histoire et d’archéologie 5 (Paris, 1999) 28, nos. 151-52, pl. 20.

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

  • Roman Gallery Installation (long-term), Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/16/1999 - 01/20/2008

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