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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1920.44.175
Title
Handle
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
handle
Date
1st-2nd century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period, Middle
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303891

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
10.6 cm (4 3/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 81.12; Sn, 12.97; Pb, 5.03; Zn, 0.004; Fe, 0.16; Ni, 0.07; Ag, 0.03; Sb, 0.6; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.019; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is black with spots of green and brown accretions. In spite of raised corrosion products in several areas, most of the surface is very well preserved. Approximately half of each of the two attachment loops is lost.

The handle appears to have been cast in its current shape, without additional forming or decoration after casting except to smooth the surface. The remains of two attachment loops are present—each is broken. The concave outer surface of these loops was probably cast. The shape of the loops may have been formed after casting.


Henry Lie (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Miss Elizabeth Gaskell Norton, Boston, MA and Miss Margaret Norton, Cambridge, MA (by 1920), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1920.

Note: The Misses Norton were daughters of Charles Elliot Norton (1827-1908).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Misses Norton
Accession Year
1920
Object Number
1920.44.175
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
The omega-shaped handle is square in section, thickest in the middle (9 mm) and tapering toward the ends (4.8 mm), which are circular in section and curve sharply upward. The elongated, piriform finials on the ends of the handles have two raised bands at the wider end and a domed tip. One loop, probably part of a chain, remains in the bend of each side of the handle. The chain would have attached to the body of a vessel and would have been used for suspension (1).

NOTES:

1. This handle may have belonged to a small balsamarium, such as those in A. Koster, The Bronze Vessels 2: Acquisitions 1954-1996, Collections in the Provinciaal Museum G. M. Kam at Nijmegen 13 (Gelderland, 1997) 82-84, nos. 110-13. The handles attached to loops on the body of the vessel itself and were used for suspension. Compare also B. Borell, Statuetten, Gefässe und andere Gegenstände aus Metall, Katalog der Sammlung antiker Kleinkunst des Archäologischen Instituts der Universität Heidelberg 3.1 (Mainz, 1989) 32, no. 33, pl. 17; and M. P. Bini, G. Caramella, and S. Buccioli, I bronzi etruschi e romani, Materiali del Museo archeologico nazionale di Tarquinia 13 (Rome, 1995) pl. 113.1.


Lisa M. Anderson

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