Mount for Spear Shaft
Unknown Artist
ca. 400
Medium
Silver-gilt, niello
Dimensions
Overall: 1 3/16 x 1 1/8 x 1 in., 1.1oz. (3 x 2.8 x 2.6 cm, 31g)
Classification
Metalwork-Silver
Culture
Late Roman
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.192.143
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Mount for Spear Shaft*, to around 400 AD, hails from the Late Roman period—a time of transition as the Western Roman Empire faced mounting pressures from invasions and internal shifts. Crafted by an unknown artisan, this tiny metal fitting (just over 1 inch tall and weighing a mere 1.1 ounces) would have adorned the shaft of a spear, blending military utility with luxurious decoration. Now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Art department, it entered the collection as a gift from J. Pierpont Morgan in 1917. The mount's medium—silver-gilt with niello—highlights the soph...