Buckle End with Interlacing Relief

1 of 1

Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Period	Middle Ages
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Century	8th-11th century
Culture	Viking
Dimensions	3.52 x 2.21 cm (1 3/8 x 7/8 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

This belt element is broken at one end, but the other preserves the bifurcated plates held together by rivets characteristic of strap ends. The body is much broader than other strap ends in the collection and is rectangular, where the others are curved and molded. It is decorated in relief with an interlocking lattice motif within a simple border. The back is flat and featureless.

Lisa M. Anderson

TechnicalDetails

Chemical Composition

Technical Observations

The patina is a cupritic reddish-brown under green corrosion. A large portion of the body of the object is missing, including the terminal and a corner of the bifurcate section on the reverse. The edges are worn. 
 
The body of the object was originally cast in one piece by the lost-wax process. The shallow step on the reverse corresponds to where the lower bifurcating section was joined to the upper part in the wax stage. The decorative pattern on the top was probably already present in the wax and enhanced in the metal, although it is difficult to be certain since the top surface is entirely covered with a very fine peened texture, probably as a result of a mechanical post-excavation cleaning. There is no evidence of inlays, although the possibility that it once had inlay cannot be completely excluded. Both rivets survive and have corroded differently than the body of the object, suggesting they are made of a different material. One of them appears to be faceted, but that may be an artifact of corrosion. 
 
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift from the Linzalone Family