Miniature Plate

1 of 1

Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Period	Geometric period to Classical
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Argolis, Heraion (Argolis)?
Century	8th-6th century BCE
Culture	Greek
Dimensions	5.5 x 4.4 x 0.65 cm (2 3/16 x 1 3/4 x 1/4 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

A thin bronze sheet has been cut into the shape of a plate with two handles and decorated with stippling. The reflex handles have pointed returning ends. Two rows of raised dots border the rim of the plate; the transition to the bottom is achieved by a line of dots struck from the top. A line of raised dots appears to have embellished the handles, and there is one large dot in the center of the plate. The same shape is represented by a number of regular-sized clay and bronze plates from the late Geometric and Archaic periods. Miniature or “token” vessels such as this plate were common votive offerings in Greek sanctuaries. Approximately 30 comparable sheet bronze plates are known from the Argive Heraeum, where this example is also said to have been found (1). 
 
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. 275-77, nos. 1857-59, pls. 108-109. For the provenance, see the remarks on 1947.33.4, which is from the same donor.
 
Susanne Ebbinghaus

TechnicalDetails

Chemical Composition

Technical Observations

The patina is light blue, green, and dark gray, with some cupritic areas. Grayish-tan soil accretions, which are most likely burial remains, are preserved on much of the surface. The surface is distorted overall with small pustules of corrosion, some of which are broken. The plate is distorted and cracked; one of the handles and one of the tips are broken off, the other handle is bent, and there is a loss on part of the rim. The metal at the breaks appears to be mineralized, and the black spots along their edges and in a few other areas on the piece are copper sulfide crystals that were caused by post-excavation storage conditions.
 
This plate was formed in one piece from sheet metal, which was cut out to form the handles and four extending tips adjacent to these. Two rows of evenly spaced raised dots—one on the front, the other on the reverse—form a raised circular decoration in the middle of the plate. These are created with a pointed punch. The distortion of the metal caused by the tooling—on both the front and the back of the plate—is typical of repoussé work.  
 
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mary H. Buckingham