2003.256: Pendant Cross
JewelryIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2003.256
- Title
- Pendant Cross
- Classification
- Jewelry
- Work Type
- pendant
- Date
- 6th-13th century or later
- Places
- Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
- Period
- Byzantine period
- Culture
- Byzantine
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/71914
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Technique
- Cast, lost-wax process
- Dimensions
- 7.8 x 4.6 x 0.2 cm (3 1/16 x 1 13/16 x 1/16 in.)
- Technical Details
-
Technical Observations: The patina of the crosses (2003.254, 2003.255, 2003.256, 2003.257, 2003.258, and 2003.259) is light green mixed with dirt over black. Although the color would seem to indicate burial, acetone dissolves the binder holding the green and dirt layers in place. The applied modern coloration and dirt, which is identical on all six objects, give the impression that they are fakes. The underlying surfaces are also in very good condition and show no obvious signs of age.
The crosses appear to have been modeled directly in wax. The edges of the crosses were cleaned up with a file after casting.
Henry Lie (submitted 2005)
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Carol Hebb and Alan Feldbaum
- Accession Year
- 2003
- Object Number
- 2003.256
- 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 small pendant cross has an intact vertical loop with a relatively small hole. Incised circular decorations in each arm and at center of the cross are very faint but visible. As with other Byzantine crosses, the ends of the horizontal arms are more curved than the vertical arms, which are also slightly longer than the horizontal arms in this case. The back is featureless.
Comparable copper alloy pendant crosses are known from Byzantine contexts (1). Based on excavated examples, the crosses would have been worn as elements in necklaces, especially by women (2).
NOTES:
1. S. D. Campbell, The Malcove Collection: A Catalogue of the Objects in the Lillian Malcove Collection of the University of Toronto (Toronto, 1985) 113, nos. 142-48; and E. A. Khairedinova, “Early Medieval Crosses from the South-Western Crimea,” in Byzantine Small Finds in Archaeological Contexts, eds. B. Böhlendorf-Arslan and A. Ricci, BYZAS 15 (Istanbul, 2012) 417-440, esp. 426-27, type 3, fig. 2.23 and 26.
2. Khairedinova 2012 (supra 1) 431-38.
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