Handle

1 of 4

Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Century	1st millennium BCE-1st millenium CE
Culture	Etruscan
Dimensions	8.2 x 3.2 x 2 cm (3 1/4 x 1 1/4 x 13/16 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

This simple curved handle is rectangular in section, although the width varies from the top to the bottom. The top has a slight indentation at the end for attachment to the rim of a vessel. The handle has a high, very arched curve. At the bottom, there is another indentation that then becomes a diamond-shaped attachment plate. The remains of old repair material adhere to the attachment plate.
 
According to an archival photo, the vessel body and handle (1928.58.A and 1928.58.B) were combined when they arrived to the collection and were later disassembled. This very simple handle form is difficult to place in terms of date and culture but would have been used for a small vessel or cup (1).
 
NOTES:
 
1. But compare M. T. Falconi Amorelli, ed., Todi preromana: Catalogo dei materiali conservati nel Museo Comunale di Todi (Todi, 1977) pl. 73.g-q; and M. P. Bini, G. Caramella, and S. Buccioli, I bronzi etruschi e romani, Materiali del Museo archeologico nazionale di Tarquinia 13 (Rome, 1995) 103, no. 39, pl. 53.4.b.
 
Lisa M. Anderson

TechnicalDetails

Chemical Composition

Technical Observations

The surface of 1928.58.A is covered with green, tan, and some blue corrosion products and burial accretions; in a few areas, the shiny, smooth oxidized metal shows through where these materials have popped off. There are numerous losses, and some earlier repairs were done with an adhesive or resin in combination with fine strips of fiberglass fabric or Japanese paper. The vessel was raised out of one piece of metal. The walls are very fine—notably finer than the upper rim—and as a result are very fragile, especially due to corrosion. The fine incised decorative lines that encircle the vessel are clear, as are the concentric ones drawn on the underside after casting. Close examination also reveals unusual swaths of very fine parallel lines in some of the more metallic areas, which might reflect the microstructure of the metal. Some areas on the outer surface have thicker accretions. The inside of the vessel preserves a variety of corrosion formations as well as burial accretions. There is no evidence for the attachment of a handle, except perhaps the two thicker accretions near the bottom on one side, which could be the remains of joining material. 
 
The formerly associated handle (1928.58.B) was cast in one piece. The handle would have been attached to a vessel using solder or some adhesive, as there are no holes or other evidence of mechanical joining using rivets. On the attachment plate, the remains of a modern adhesive and Japanese paper are stuck to thin, mineralized fragments of a vessel and lump of soil. The handle does not seem to have been joined to the vessel that it is currently paired with.
 
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Miss Susan M. L. Wales