Pendant Cross

1 of 1

Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Period	Byzantine period
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World
Century	1st-2nd millennium CE
Culture	Byzantine
Dimensions	5 x 4.1 x 0.2 cm (1 15/16 x 1 5/8 x 1/16 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

The small pendant cross has an intact vertical loop. Incised circular decorations in each arm and at center of the cross are very faint but visible. The bottom of the cross has a small area that appears to have been broken. As with other Byzantine crosses, the ends of the horizontal arms are more curved than the vertical arms; in this case the top of the horizontal arms is longer than the bottom. Because this is symmetrical, it is probably intentional rather than resulting from breakage of the lower portions of the arms. The back is featureless.
 
Comparable copper alloy pendant crosses are known from Byzantine contexts (1). Based on excavated examples, the crosses would have been worn as elements in necklaces, especially by women (2).
 
NOTES:
 
1. S. D. Campbell, The Malcove Collection: A Catalogue of the Objects in the Lillian Malcove Collection of the University of Toronto (Toronto, 1985) 113, nos. 142-48; and E. A. Khairedinova, “Early Medieval Crosses from the South-Western Crimea,” in Byzantine Small Finds in Archaeological Contexts, eds. B. Böhlendorf-Arslan and A. Ricci, BYZAS 15 (Istanbul, 2012) 417-440, esp. 426-27, type 3, fig. 2.23 and 26.
 
2. Khairedinova 2012 (supra 1) 431-38.
 
Lisa M. Anderson

TechnicalDetails

Technical Observations

The patina of the crosses (2003.254, 2003.255, 2003.256, 2003.257, 2003.258, and 2003.259) is light green mixed with dirt over black. Although the color would seem to indicate burial, acetone dissolves the binder holding the green and dirt layers in place.  The applied modern coloration and dirt, which is identical on all six objects, give the impression that they are fakes. The underlying surfaces are also in very good condition and show no obvious signs of age. 
 
The crosses appear to have been modeled directly in wax. The edges of the crosses were cleaned up with a file after casting.
 
Henry Lie (submitted 2005)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Carol Hebb and Alan Feldbaum