Harvard Art Museums > 1978.495.58: Stylus Tools and Equipment Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Stylus , 1978.495.58,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, May 01, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/312099. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1978.495.58 Title Stylus Classification Tools and Equipment Work Type stylus Date 1st-4th century CE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World Period Roman Imperial period Culture Roman Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/312099 Physical Descriptions Medium Copper alloy Technique Cast Dimensions 10 x 0.6 cm (3 15/16 x 1/4 in.) Technical Details Technical Observations: The patina of 1940.138 has been stripped to a pitted brown-black surface, while the patina of 1964.12.38 is green with thick burial encrustations. The patina of 1978.495.58 is green, red, and black corrosion. One end of 1978.495.58 is broken off. The instruments were made by casting the general shape, and there may have been some working to further shape the square or rectangular ends and finish the surfaces. 1964.12.38 has iron corrosion preserved inside its hollow end. The other two instruments are solid metal. Carol Snow (submitted 2002) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Formerly in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, no. E-2336. 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 1978.495.58 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums The shaft of this stylus is circular in section and has two distinct areas; one half is thinner and leads to the flattened, wedge-shaped “eraser” end, while the other half widens from the midpoint before the circumference decreases to a dull point (1). A stylus of this type would have been used to write on a Roman tablet; tablets were made of wood with a wax-covered surface. The wax surface made the tablet reusable, and the flat end of the stylus could be used to rub out the text. Styli have been found with sets of medical instruments and were sometimes used by ancient doctors, for instance, to extract teeth (2). NOTES: 1. Compare R. Jackson and S. La Niece, “A Set of Roman Medical Instruments from Italy,” Britannia 17 (1986): 119-67, esp. 127-28, no. 26, fig. 3. 2. J. S. Milne, Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times (Oxford, 1907) 72-73; and D. Michaelides, “A Roman Surgeon’s Tomb from Nea Paphos,” Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 1984: 315-32, esp. 326. David Smart and Lisa M. Anderson Subjects and Contexts Roman Domestic Art Ancient Bronzes Related Works 2012.1.44 Stylus Tools and Equipment 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
