Matrix with Double Intaglio Design

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Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Period	Hellenistic period, Early
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Thessaly
Century	3rd century BCE
Culture	Greek
Dimensions	4.7 x 1 cm (1 7/8 x 3/8 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

This disc-shaped bronze matrix has intaglio representations on each side. The straight rim bears a large number of drilled holes, which may be modern. A cylindrical, brass pin currently projecting from one of them was probably a device for mounting. One side is bounded by a guilloche pattern. The other is circumscribed by a raised ridge. The central intaglio design represents Skylla (1). She raises her right arm backward, brandishing a trident. Dog heads project from beneath her waist, where her human torso joins her lower body. Scales are represented on the body, and her tail is forked at the end. Spiky fins surmount the upper part of her body. The other side has a smaller circular intaglio motif, also circumscribed by a guilloche motif, but badly corroded. Represented in the intaglio form is a Nereid mounted sideways on a hippocampus, carrying a Corinthian helmet in her right hand and a shield, with central gorgoneion, over her left shoulder. The shield appears in three-quarter view. This must be Thetis, mother of Achilles, bringing two items of the new armor that Hephaistos had made for him back to her son (2). This is part of the “Marine Thiasos,” an enormously popular subject in many media during the fourth century BCE. This may have been one intaglio in a series, each one of which would produce a relief of another Nereid bringing other pieces of the armor to Achilles. It is unclear what kind of objects would have been produced from the intaglio impressions on both sides of this object, whether they would have been relief medallions in sheet gold or silver for the interiors of dishes in precious metal or decorations for armor. Another possibility is that this object was set into a shallow circular depression in an anvil and used in combination with a punch die to strike coin-like metal objects, such as tokens or medallions. 
 
This enigmatic matrix has attracted extensive scholarship since its first publication by D. M. Robinson decades ago. Further studies of matrices and punches for producing repoussé objects in sheet metal will undoubtedly shed further light on this important object, its functions, and its date.
 
NOTES:
 
1. Compare E. Walter-Karyde, “Dangerous is Beautiful: The Elemental Quality of a Hellenistic Scylla,” in Regional schools in Hellenistic Sculpture: Proceedings of an International Conference Held at Athens, March 15-17, 1996, eds. O. Palagia and W. Coulson (Oxford, 1998) 271-79. 
 
2. As described at Iliad 19.1-39.
 
David G. Mitten

TechnicalDetails

Chemical Composition

Technical Observations

The solid, round object has been stripped chemically of mineralized corrosion products to expose its metallic surface. The stripping has etched into the metal and emphasized the dendritic structure that is characteristic of a cast metal. This is clearly visible on most of the surface of both faces of the thick disc. The intaglio figures were probably molded, as they too display this dendritic texture, although in a few areas the dendrites have been flattened, and it is not clear whether that was due to wear or if it was part of the chasing process. Some areas were certainly reworked in the metal at the time of the object’s manufacture: for instance, the decorative pattern that surrounds the figures includes round punch marks. The Λ-shaped character inscribed on the edge of the side with Thetis on a hippocampus also displays dendrites, which makes it difficult to ascertain whether the marks were made by punching or engraving. There may be another similar incision to the right of this figure, but so much of it is obscured by the darker patches of metallic inclusions or corrosion products that speckle parts of the surface that it is hard to decipher. Traces of a white material in the interstices are no doubt remnants of the plaster used to cast an impression of the image published by D. M. Robinson in 1934 (1). 
 
The surface of the outer rim is metallic and abrasive marks run lengthwise in the direction of rim. These are modern and look as though they were produced by holding the disc against a grinding wheel to remove the mineralized surface. The rim was subsequently drilled with two slightly offset rows of holes (c. 2.5 mm in diameter) for most of its length, except for c. 2.5 cm of more closely spaced single holes to one side of a modern brass rod (c. 2.35 mm in diameter) that was threaded into one of the holes. The small lip of displaced metal along the edges of the holes protrudes from the ground surface and is devoid of abrasion marks, which is a sure indication that the drill holes post-date the grinding. The photograph published by Robinson does not show these holes, so they must have been made after 1934 (2).
 
NOTES:
 
1. D. M. Robinson, “The Bonze State Seal of Larissa Kremaste,” American Journal of Archaeology 38 (1934): 219-22, esp. 220, fig. 3.
 
2. Ibid., 219, fig. 2.
 
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of David M. Robinson