2004.2: Strap End
JewelryIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2004.2
- Title
- Strap End
- Classification
- Jewelry
- Work Type
- jewelry
- Date
- 9th century
- Places
- Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
- Period
- Middle Ages, Early
- Culture
- Anglo-Saxon
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/57041
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Mixed copper alloy
- Technique
- Cast, lost-wax process
- Dimensions
- 4.57 x 1.85 cm (1 13/16 x 3/4 in.)
- Technical Details
-
Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Mixed Copper Alloy
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, zinc
Other Elements: lead, iron
K. Eremin, January 2014Technical Observations: The dark brown surface of the strap end is pitted by corrosion and was cleaned after excavation. Some lumps of green corrosion product remain. The end that would have attached to the strap is missing, and a friable reddish-brown material—which might be burial accretions, colored wax, or corrosion—is trapped in the recesses.
The object was probably cast. The metal surface on the front of the strap end preserves many crisp details of the original decoration, formed by pointed round, circular, and crescent-shaped punches in the metal. It is not clear whether the parallel diagonal marks on the beveled edge near the arrow-shaped tip are file marks from cleaning or the remains of decorative markings. The back has a much rougher surface, perhaps more representative of what the front looked like when it was excavated.
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- [Joseph Linzalone, Wolfshead Gallery, Ridgewood, NY, sold]; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 2004.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Purchase through the generosity of Mrs. Waltrud Lampé and the Marian H. Phinney Fund
- Accession Year
- 2004
- Object Number
- 2004.2
- 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 fragment is in the shape of an elongated diamond ending in a heart-shaped finial; the other edge is broken. The front surface is decorated with four circles, each with a center dot, in a diamond pattern. The piece is bordered by a line of semicircles. The back is flat and featureless. This piece does not have a bifurcated top portion, as the other strap ends in this group do, and the decoration is unusual (1).
Strap ends are a relatively common item in medieval northern Europe; they would have adorned the ends of leather or cloth straps, on belts and perhaps other types of equipment (2).
NOTES:
1. The closest comparisons may be D. M. Wilson, Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork 700-1100 in the British Museum (London, 1964) 198-99, nos. 124-25, pl. 40.
2. Ibid. 62-63.
Lisa M. Anderson
Subjects and Contexts
- Ancient Bronzes
Related Objects
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