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Crossbow fibula
Roman or Byzantine
Late Roman or Early Byzantine
A.D. 340–360
Medium/Technique
Gold
Dimensions
Length: 6.4 cm (2 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund
Accession Number1989.2a-b
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Fibulae
DescriptionAn example of an Onionhead crossbow fibula of a very common type.The bow is very narrow, especially along the spine, widening somewhat toward the catch, where it is decorated with two rings of beaded wire with 3 turns of the plied wire in between.
The catch consists of two parts, a base with the pin slot extending outward soldered (or part of the bow) to the bow and a separate movable slide that when engaged locks the pin inside. The Boston piece compares well with the mid-4th century examples. Unlike the majority of crossbow fibulae whose catch has an open pin-guard for the insertion of a free-swinging pin, this fibula has a safety catch with a movable slide that when engaged locks the pin inside.
Condition:
The crossbar is hexagonal with three prominent faceted knobby finials, each with the beaded wire collar; one in the center at the junction of the bow and the crossbar and the other two as finials for the crossbar. The knobs are hollow and made from gold sheet. One of the knobs is crushed. There are two prominent S-scroll ornaments soldered onto the crossbar between the knobs and the bow, probably performing both decorative and functional role, the latter as strengthening element for the crossbar.
The fibula is slim in proportions, its tailpiece has four elegantly carved pairs of scrolls, and it has hexagonal knobs and crossbar. The knobs and the base of the bow have beaded collars, and S-shaped scrolls are mounted on the crossbar. Up the "spine" of the fibula runs a finely incised interlace (guilloche). The tailpiece, which was meant to point upward and backward, can be removed to insert and fasten the (now-missing) pin.
The catch consists of two parts, a base with the pin slot extending outward soldered (or part of the bow) to the bow and a separate movable slide that when engaged locks the pin inside. The Boston piece compares well with the mid-4th century examples. Unlike the majority of crossbow fibulae whose catch has an open pin-guard for the insertion of a free-swinging pin, this fibula has a safety catch with a movable slide that when engaged locks the pin inside.
Condition:
The crossbar is hexagonal with three prominent faceted knobby finials, each with the beaded wire collar; one in the center at the junction of the bow and the crossbar and the other two as finials for the crossbar. The knobs are hollow and made from gold sheet. One of the knobs is crushed. There are two prominent S-scroll ornaments soldered onto the crossbar between the knobs and the bow, probably performing both decorative and functional role, the latter as strengthening element for the crossbar.
The fibula is slim in proportions, its tailpiece has four elegantly carved pairs of scrolls, and it has hexagonal knobs and crossbar. The knobs and the base of the bow have beaded collars, and S-shaped scrolls are mounted on the crossbar. Up the "spine" of the fibula runs a finely incised interlace (guilloche). The tailpiece, which was meant to point upward and backward, can be removed to insert and fasten the (now-missing) pin.
ProvenanceDecember 12, 1988, sale, Sotheby's, London, lot 49, to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 25, 1989)