Torc with Loop Ends

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Artist
NameUnknown
Basic Info
PeriodIron Age
Created inAncient & Byzantine World
Century2nd-1st millennium BCE
CultureNear Eastern
Dimensions13 x 12.3 x 0.8 cm (5 1/8 x 4 13/16 x 5/16 in.)
Harvard Museum
DepartmentDepartment of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
DivisionAsian and Mediterranean Art
Contactam_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

The terminals of this torc are flattened and curl to form an open loop on each side; one side is filled with encrustation. The majority of the torc is twisted, while the areas adjacent to the loops are straight. The diameter of the metal tapers slightly from the central point toward each terminal. It is difficult to suggest a date or geographic region for this type of simple torc, which was used over a wide geographic and temporal span and is rarely found in scientific excavations (1). NOTES: 1. See E. De Waele, Bronzes du Luristan et d’Amlash: Ancienne collection Godard, Publications d’histoire de l’art et d’archéologie de l’Université Catholique de Louvain 34 (Louvain-la-Neuve, 1982) 186-87 and 246, nos. 308 and 414, figs. 153 and 230. Compare also M. Novotná, Halsringe und Diademe in der Slowakei, Prähisorische Bronzefunde 11.4 (Munich, 1984) 30-38, nos. 258-75, pls. 39-43; and P. König, Spätbronzezeitliche Hortfunde aus Bosnien und der Herzegowina, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 20.11 (Stuttgart, 2004) pls. 32.3, 68.12-13, and 69.14-15. Lisa M. Anderson

TechnicalDetails

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Richard R. Wagner