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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1978.495.39
Title
Palmette Fibula
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
pin, fibula
Date
1st century BCE-first half 1st century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Republican period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/310612

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast and hammered
Dimensions
10.2 x 2.2 cm (4 x 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 90.22; Sn, 8.3; Pb, 0.41; Zn, 0.303; Fe, 0.05; Ni, 0.15; Ag, 0.46; Sb, 0.11; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.011; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, iron, nickel, arsenic
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina is smooth green, black, and gray with some metal showing through, and there is a dull gray metal in the bowl. There are minor losses to the edges, the gray metal, and the catchplate; the pin is missing. The fibula was cast by the lost-wax technique, and the catchplate was shaped by hammering.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Formerly in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University.

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
1978.495.39
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 fibula has a long, flat bow and a palmette- or shell-shaped headplate, which is concave on the underside and convex on the exterior, with scalloped edges (1). Below the palmette or shell, the bow is decorated with a raised bead flanked by two smaller ridges, followed by two hook-like projections on the sides (one is broken). Below the projections are two broad, flat wings with curving shoulders that taper toward the catchplate. A prominent midrib traverses the spine of the bowl. The openwork catchplate is curved at the bottom to hold the missing pin; it is not clear how the pin would have attached to the headplate.

NOTES:

1. Compare very close parallels in E. Ettlinger, Die römischen Fibeln in der Schweiz (Bern, 1973) 38, pl. 24.4; P. Gleirscher, “Tiroler Schüssel- und Palmettenfibeln: Archäologisches zu Frage der Eroberung der Alpen durch die Römer,” Germania 65.2 (1987): 67-88, esp. 67, 69, and 87, nos. 18-31, fig. 2.5-10; and S. Demetz, Fibeln der spätlatène- und frühen römischen Kaiserzeit in den Alpenländern, Frühgeschichtliche und provinzialrömische Archäologie, Materialien und Forschungen 4 (Rahden, 1999) 73-76, pl. 19.2.

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