Pin

Skip to main content
Image Not Available for Pin
Pin
Image Not Available for Pin
Datedate unknown
MediumBronze
DimensionsOverall (length): 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Edward S. Burgess, Class of 1879, H1904
Object number1929.132
Not on view
Description"In the ancient Mediterranean, a long bronze pin like this one would have had a variety of uses, both decorative and practical, in regards to hair and dress. While long pins might have been used to style hair in the Roman Empire between the first century B.C.E. to the fourth century C.E., this object was more likely used to fasten a cloak, given the decorative floral charm on its end. This type of cloak pin was eventually replaced by the fibula, a more technologically advanced type of pin akin to a modern safety pin, though generally much more ornate, and could similarly be used to fasten cloaks, togas, and other garments." -written by Christina Naston, Class of 2020.

Additional Details

Provenance 1929: Hamilton College (James Library), by bequest of Edward S. Burgess.
Markings No markings noted.
Signature Not signed.
Inscribed No inscriptions noted.
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Pho…
Decorative hair pin in the shape of a sewing needle
Unknown artist, Roman (Ancient)
Date: 1st century
Medium: Drawn and tooled glass
Object number: 2015.6.36
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Pho…
Decorative hair pin in the shape of a sewing needle
Unknown artist, Roman (Ancient)
Date: 1st century
Medium: Drawn and tooled glass
Object number: 2015.6.44
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Pho…
Artifice
Asad Faulwell
Date: 2022
Medium: Acrylic, pins and photo collage on canvas
Object number: 2022.7
Photograph by David Revette.
Red-figure bell krater (mixing vessel)
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: mid 4th century B.C.E.
Medium: Terracotta
Object number: 1929.43
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Fragment of a relief from the Northwest Palace at Nimrud
Date: c. 883-859 BCE
Medium: Gypsum with remnants of red pigment
Object number: 1868.5
Photograph by Dave Revette.
Red-figure skyphos
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: mid 4th century B.C.E.
Medium: Terracotta
Object number: 1929.39
Photograph by John Bentham.
Coffin medallion with head of Medusa
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: c. 332-250 BCE
Medium: Terracotta with remnants of pigment
Object number: 1943.20
Halt!, from "Harper's Weekly"
Halt!, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published October 17, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.255
Venice: Piazza San Marco and the Colonnade of the Procuratie Nuove
Venice: Piazza San Marco and the Colonnade of the Procuratie Nuove
Unknown artist
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: S2018.2.137
Bronze fragments from Pompeii
Bronze fragments from Pompeii
Unknown artist, Roman (Ancient)
Date: before 79 CE
Medium: Bronze
Object number: 1943.147
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Pho…
Mirror
Unknown artist, Roman (Ancient)
Date: 5th-3rd century BCE
Medium: Bronze
Object number: 2015.6.7
Signet ring
Signet ring
Date: date unknown
Medium: Bronze
Object number: 1929.131