Crescent-Shaped Object with Three Half Spheres

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Artist
NameUnknown
Basic Info
Alternative Titlesmall package of Etruscan fragments (small decorative loop)
PeriodRoman period
Created inAncient & Byzantine World, Europe, North Italy
Century1st century BCE-1st century CE
CultureRoman
Dimensions1.1 x 1.8 cm (7/16 x 11/16 in.)
Harvard Museum
DepartmentDepartment of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
DivisionAsian and Mediterranean Art
Contactam_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

This openwork object consists of a semicircular section and a straight section with a row of three hollow spheres, open on the bottom, forming a pelta shape. There is a small chip on the curved portion of this piece. This may be a decorative element, possibly of a belt (1). NOTES: 1. Compare the examples in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv. nos. Fr. 1552 x and 30891 ff, the latter of which was found in a grave dated to the early first century CE; see R. Zahn, “Das sogenannte Kindergrab des Berliner Antiquariums,” Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 65-66 (1950-51): 264-86, esp. 266, fig. 2. Lisa M. Anderson

TechnicalDetails

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Misses Norton