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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1895.202.E
Title
Carinated Ring
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Ring (from the Heraion, near Argos)
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
ring
Date
8th-5th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Argolis, Heraion (Argolis)
Period
Geometric period to Classical
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/312114

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
2.7 x 0.4 cm (1 1/16 x 3/16 in.)
4.6 g
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patinas of these three rings (1895.202.B, 1895.202.E, and 1895.202.F) are dark green with some brown burial accretions. The surfaces are rough with raised corrosion products, and the rings appear to be significantly mineralized. 1895.202.E is slightly better preserved.

Although the surfaces are not well preserved, it is possible to see that the profiles and periphery of the ridge decorations are not perfectly regular. The sharp edges of the ridges give the impression of metal that has been cold worked, but there is no reason that these shapes could not be cast using a lost-wax process.


Henry Lie (submitted 2002)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Professor C.E. Norton and Richard Norton
Accession Year
1895
Object Number
1895.202.E
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 ring is convex on the inside and outside, like 1895.202.B and 1895.202.F. The outside consists of two flat surfaces that meet at an angle to form a keel; the keel on the inside is slightly less marked. The interior surfaces protrude over the exterior, forming ridges on each side of the exterior carination. Approximately 95 rings of this type were excavated at the Argive Heraeum, where 1895.202.B, 1895.202.E, and 1895.202.F are said to have been found (1). With diameters between 2.1 and 2.8 cm, most of these rings could be worn as finger rings.

NOTES:

1. H. F. de Cou, “The Bronzes of the Argive Heraeum,” in The Argive Heraeum 2, ed. C. Waldstein (Boston, 1905) 191-332, esp. 259-60, nos. 1381-449 (Type C, Form 2), pl. 91.


Susanne Ebbinghaus

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