Large Villanovan fibula
€515
available
Object number
AR3566-05
| Object: |
Large Villanovan fibula
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| Material: |
Bronze.
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| Period: |
9th to 8th cent. BC. Early Iron Age of Italy. |
| Description: |
So-called serpentine fibula of the Italic Villanovan culture. The body is made from thick bronze wire with a circular profile and decorated with fine engravings. The bow consists of two small arches with a spiral between them. Another spiral acts as a spring. The pin forms a large arch and is held in place by a small catch plate at the end of the body, made by the wire beaten flat.
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| Background: |
The Iron Age brooches of the Mediterranean were mostly simple productions, made of a single piece of thick wire. Still, the Italic peoples developed their own distinctive styles. Fibulae come with decorations such as glass beads, bone ornaments or amber. Their sizes range from about 3cm to 30cm length. Hattatt is giving a broad overview on the Italic Iron Age fibulae in his Ancient and Romano-British Brooches (1982), pp. 186-188, figs. 79-84.
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| Dimensions: |
141mm x 96mm "box size".
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| Condition: |
Restored break on the pin. Otherwise completely intact, covered with a beautiful patina. Excellent condition.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2024 from the Swiss art market. Previously in the Swiss private collection of G. Gartmann, who acquired it from the Swiss Hartmann family collection, collection no. BR48. The founder of the collection, antiquarian Dr. Roland Hartmann (1922–2007) from St. Gallen, built an extensive collection of antiquarian books, Greek vases, and Iron Age brooches. The present piece was acquired in 1986 from Casa Serodine in Ascona, Switzerland.
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| Publications: |
Cf. Richard Hattatt, Brooches of Antiquity (1987), p. 336f, fig. 110, no. 1349.
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| Literature: |
As an alternative to the works of Hattatt we can recommend the following book as an introduction and for referencing: R. Heynowski, Bestimmungsbuch Archäologie 1, Fibeln (2012). |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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