The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 29, 2023

Turned Armilla

c. 1500 BC

Hungary, Bronze Age, c. 2500-800 BC

Bronze, wrought

Overall: 12.5 x 10.4 cm (4 15/16 x 4 1/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1988.5

Location

106A Migration Period & Coptic

Fun Fact

This armilla or arm ornament has a ridge along the spine, ending in a spiral at both ends.

Description

Europe. As the spiral mimics forms found in nature - specifically in nautilus shells - it is the basis for logarithmic measures of progression in measurement and growth, which in turn help establish the Fibonacci sequence. Through this sequence we can analyze the phenomenon of spiral designs, specifically in nautilus shells, where the radius of each new chamber grows at a rate determined by a specific proportion to the previous one.

Provenance
Count Keglevics; Dr. S. Egger, Vienna, sold Sotheby, 1891; Pitt Rivers; (Michael Ward, New York).
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 4 archive.org
Kozloff, Arielle P. "Ancient East-European Bronzes." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 4 (1993): 122-26. Reproduced: p. 123; Mentioned: p. 122-26 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", no. 4, p. 115, repr. p. 86.

The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989).

The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1988.5