1895.202.E: Carinated Ring
JewelryIdentification 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