Magnificent spectacle brooch from Greece
€4,700
available
Object number
AR3361
| Object: |
Magnificent spectacle brooch from Greece
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| Material: |
Bronze.
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| Period: |
9th to 6th century BC. Iron Age. |
| Description: |
The very large brooch is made from a single piece of wire with a square cross-section. Two large coils tightly-wound in opposite directions form the body, connected by an 8-shaped loop. From the center of a coil, the wire continues as a pin. The end of the wire in the other coil's eye is bent into a hook and serves as a pin holder.
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| Background: |
Spectacle brooches belong to an early class of fibulae in which the pin is rigidly connected to the body. It acted as a closure due to the material tension of the bronze. The spectacle brooches were used in Central Europe, Italy, the Balkans and Greece. The size of the example offered here suggests that it was not a brooch for daily use, but rather a showpiece for special occasions, representational purposes, as a votive offering or grave offering.
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| Dimensions: |
25cm length, 11cm width.
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| Condition: |
Museum-worthy condition. The original material is wonderfully intact, including the pin and the base of the pin holder. Particularly noteworthy is the attractive patina in green and blue tones.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us on the Swiss art market in 2022. Previously in the Swiss private collection Marc Odermatt. Acquired in 1987 from Nefer Gallery in Zurich, Switzerland. A copy of the gallery's expertise is available. The brooch is probably a find from Greece.
The expertise of Nefer Gallery describes this brooch as part of a belonging group of bronze objects from the Greek-geometric period. Apparently the gallery had information about the region of the find. |
| References: |
Cf. R. Heynowski, Bestimmungsbuch Archaeologie 1, Fibeln (2012), p. 47, no. 2.1. Cf. Hunt Museum, acc. no. HCA 504. |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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