Ritual ImplementsRoman3rd-4th century CE

Votive Nail or Punch

3rd-4th century CE

Classification

Ritual Implements

Technique

Cast and hammered

Medium

Copper alloy

Culture

Roman

Period

Roman Imperial period

Century

3rd-4th century CE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

h. 7.4 x w. 0.6 x d. 0.6 cm (2 7/8 x 1/4 x 1/4 in.)

Provenance

The Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (before 1970-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012.

Related Artworks

Ritual Implements

Pointed Jade Peg or Pin

Unknown Artist, c. 3300 BCE - c. 2000 BCE

Mottled olive- and cream-colored nephrite

4th-3rd millennium BCEChinese

Ritual Implements

Ge-halberd Blade with Geometric Design and Inscription

Unknown Artist, Early 2nd millennium (c. 1700–1500) BCE (blade); late Shang period (c. 1100–1050) BCE (inscription)

Opaque ivory-white nephrite altered to chalky white with red cinnabar accretions

18th-16th century BCEChinese

Ritual Implements

Asymmetrical Jade Knife

Unknown Artist, 12th cent. BCE - 11th cent. BCE

Mottled gray-green and russet stone

12th-11th century BCEChinese

Ritual Implements

Gold Garment Hook with Three Jade Inlays

Unknown Artist, 4th-3rd century BCE

Gold with nephrite and glass inlays and a silver knob

4th-3rd century BCEChinese

Ritual Implements

Axe-Shaped Jade Tablet

Unknown Artist, c. 4000 BCE - c. 2000 BCE

Blackish green, fine-grained nephrite

4th-3rd millennium BCEChinese

Ritual Implements

Heavy Jade Bracelet

Unknown Artist, c. 3300 BCE - c. 2000 BCE

Yellow and amber-colored stone with dark brown veins

4th-3rd millennium BCEChinese

Ritual Implements

Jade Disk-Axe

Unknown Artist, 12th-11th century BCE

Opaque, ivory-colored nephrite

12th-11th century BCEChinese

Ritual Implements

Elongated Jade Fish Silhouette

Unknown Artist, c. 11th cent. BCE - 771 BCE

Clouded gray-green, nearly opaque nephrite

11th-8th century BCEChinese

Ritual Implements

Slender Jade Dagger-Axe

Unknown Artist, 16th-8th century BCE

Mottled greenish gray nephrite with light markings and signs of incipient calcification

Chinese

Ritual Implements

Large Ceremonial Jade Object, Perhaps a Headdress

Unknown Artist, c. 4700 - c. 2920 BCE

Mottled green, bluish green, and buff nephrite

5th-3rd millennium BCEChinese

Ritual Implements

Notched, Serrate Jade Slab

Unknown Artist, c. 2500 BCE - c. 1500 BCE

Translucent stone in a relatively dark shade of celadon-green, becoming a greenish brown along the straight edge which has no teeth

3rd-2nd millennium BCEChinese

Ritual Implements

Jade Segment of a Large Disk

Unknown Artist, c. 4000 BCE - c. 2000 BCE

Opaque brownish gray nephrite enclosing a large area of translucent bluish green nephrite with whitish clouds

4th-3rd millennium BCEChinese