Swinging Handle or Bracelet with Cylindrical Holder

1 of 3

Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Period	Archaic period to Hellenistic
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World
Century	6th-4th century BCE
Culture	Etruscan (?)
Dimensions	h. 8.6 cm (3 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 handle or bracelet is composed of two ring sections, one of which has two and a half coils, while the other is a ring only (1). Each terminal of the coiled section folds back onto itself. The wires of the rings are circular in section. The hollow tube holding the rings together flares at the terminals before narrowing and then expanding again in the center.
 
NOTES:
 
1. Two very similar, although slightly smaller, objects are published as ear decorations; see B. Borell, Statuetten, Gefässe und andere Gegenstände aus Metall, Katalog der Sammlung antiker Kleinkunst des Archäologischen Instituts der Universität Heidelberg 3.1 (Mainz, 1989) 175, grave 3, nos. 4-5, pl. 64. 
 
Lisa M. Anderson

TechnicalDetails

Technical Observations

The patina is generally green over brown, although some exposed metal and cuprite are also visible. Losses have occurred to the sheet metal tube. The spiral has breaks and losses. Two areas of what appears to be iron corrosion are on one side of the piece, where it may have been in contact with an iron object.
 
The spiral bands were made by hot working and hammering a rod. The tube was made from a hammered sheet.
 
Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. Harris Kennedy, Class of 1894