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gilded Greek clay and bronze buttons
Jul. 25th, 2023 07:07 pmDo I know anyone who has ever made gilded clay and bronze buttons?
Months ago one of my friends here blogged about these chiton buttons on a day when I was curious enough to click the link. Back then the object description just listed the materials, which caught my attention, so I sent them this letter:
Can you give any further details on the materials? I assume that "Materials: bronze, fired clay" does not mean the modern metal clays that some artists use, where you shape the clay, then fire it to have it transform into bronze metal. Is it perhaps a bronze loop to attach the button shoved into the clay and then fired together? There was no photo of the back side of the buttons, and the front does have a kinda bronzish look, but if that surface is bronze, what is the clay for?
They replied straight away to say:
"These are intriguing objects indeed! I just nipped out to the gallery and took a snapshot through the glass (attached), so you can just about see that these are fairly deep bronze ‘cups’ with a loop attached to the back, and (in as far as one can tell just from looking at them) they seem to be filled with clay, with the tops carrying a relief image of a gorgoneion, undoubtedly made by pressing the clay into a mould.
I wonder if the surfaces were once gilded, though…? I need to have a closer look at them outside the case, and will try to do that hopefully over the next couple of days.
May I ask what prompted your interest in them?"
and she included a photo of them in the display case, where the bottoms kinda show:
I explained it was just that a friend blogged about it, and it caught my attention. She replied to say that they are, in fact, gilded, and wondered if I know of any parallels. However, I was busy when her reply came in, and it has sat in my inbox since. Today I have cleaned out my inbox that far, and now I am reminded of the conversation, and it seems like a good idea to ask:
Do any of you know of any parallels to such buttons? Have any of you ever made any? I know that lots of people have been making Roman clothes for Pennsic and other hot summer events. Perhaps someone has experimented with such buttons already? Perhaps one of you want to do so? If you do, let me know, and I will write back to Alexandra and let the museum know...
Months ago one of my friends here blogged about these chiton buttons on a day when I was curious enough to click the link. Back then the object description just listed the materials, which caught my attention, so I sent them this letter:
Can you give any further details on the materials? I assume that "Materials: bronze, fired clay" does not mean the modern metal clays that some artists use, where you shape the clay, then fire it to have it transform into bronze metal. Is it perhaps a bronze loop to attach the button shoved into the clay and then fired together? There was no photo of the back side of the buttons, and the front does have a kinda bronzish look, but if that surface is bronze, what is the clay for?
They replied straight away to say:
"These are intriguing objects indeed! I just nipped out to the gallery and took a snapshot through the glass (attached), so you can just about see that these are fairly deep bronze ‘cups’ with a loop attached to the back, and (in as far as one can tell just from looking at them) they seem to be filled with clay, with the tops carrying a relief image of a gorgoneion, undoubtedly made by pressing the clay into a mould.
I wonder if the surfaces were once gilded, though…? I need to have a closer look at them outside the case, and will try to do that hopefully over the next couple of days.
May I ask what prompted your interest in them?"
and she included a photo of them in the display case, where the bottoms kinda show:
I explained it was just that a friend blogged about it, and it caught my attention. She replied to say that they are, in fact, gilded, and wondered if I know of any parallels. However, I was busy when her reply came in, and it has sat in my inbox since. Today I have cleaned out my inbox that far, and now I am reminded of the conversation, and it seems like a good idea to ask:
Do any of you know of any parallels to such buttons? Have any of you ever made any? I know that lots of people have been making Roman clothes for Pennsic and other hot summer events. Perhaps someone has experimented with such buttons already? Perhaps one of you want to do so? If you do, let me know, and I will write back to Alexandra and let the museum know...
