Title

Spiral Bracelet

Anónimo procedente de Castilla y León

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

The pre-Roman treasures of Palencia are a set of three treasures of unquestionable beauty and value discovered throughout the 20th century, and made up of gold and silver jewelry, as well as denarii. These treasures, called I, II and III, were not discovered by archaeological work, so it is difficult to know the context of the pieces to carry out a complete study of them. The studies reveal that the Palencia treasures present unique characteristics, with decorative and formal elements that show their own identity. This suggests the existence of a specific jewelry tradition in the North Castilian Plateau. In addition, the predominant use of silver over gold links them more closely to the Iberian productions of the Iberian sites.In addition, the predominance of the use of silver over gold links them more closely to the Iberian productions of the Arrabalde (Zamora), Padilla de Duero (Valladolid), Monasterio de Rodilla (Burgos) and El Raso de Candeleda (Ávila) sites, than to those of the Castros culture in the northwest of the peninsula (Rodríguez and Castro, 2012).

We will focus on the so-called Tesoro 1 of Palencia, preserved in the Hispanic Society of America. It was discovered on April 30, 1911 during the construction of the railroad that connected Palencia with Villalón de Campos, near the Carrión River in an enclave called Puente del Hierro (Iron Bridge). The pieces were inside an earthenware vessel, covered by a conical silver cup that was damaged during excavation. They date between the middle of the 2nd century and 72 B.C., as suggested by the studies and the denarii found next to them. The treasures were hidden for safety, possibly during the sieges of Palencia in the 2nd century BC and the wars of Sertorius (80-72 BC), the latest date for their concealment (Codding 2017, 88).

Francisco Simón Nieto acquired the jewels, retaining one torques in his personal collection and selling the rest to the French antiquarian Feuardent brothers. Subsequently, Archer Huntington, founder of the Hispanic Society, bought these pieces from them on October 8, 1912 (Rodríguez and Castro, 2012). The collection consists of a total of twenty-two gold, silver, and electro objects, including four bracelets, six torques, three bracelets, two fibulae, four earrings, two hair ornaments, and a conical vase (Codding 2017, 87).

Description

Pre-Roman bracelets were mainly made using techniques such as casting, to mold the shape, and chiseling, to create decorations on the piece. In some cases, dies were used for fine details, while decoration included techniques such as embossing, engraving and graining, creating geometric and textured motifs. These bracelets were not only ornamental elements that reflected wealth and elegance, but also had cultural and social significance, marking the status of those who wore them and, on occasion, granting them protective and spiritual properties (Bandera Romero, 1986).

As for the set of spiral bracelets, well represented in the three Palencia treasures, they have a ribbed structure with up to a dozen spires. The central spirals, of lenticular section, are smooth, while those at the ends show complex geometric decorations, such as triangles, blades, angles and circles made by die-cutting. Some specimens, such as one from the Palencia 2 hoard, end in naturalistic serpent heads, recalling Iberian serpentiform objects (Rodríguez and Castro, 2012).

In Treasure I at the Hispanic Society of America, four silver bracelets with a spiral design are preserved, each composed of nine spires of laminar form. The ends of the spires are adorned with geometric patterns in relief, arranged in successive triangles. They include distinctive markings: two parallel dotted lines and two perpendicular ones emerging from the right side of the second line. They are preserved in excellent condition (Codding 2017, 88).

Locations

• II B.C. - 1911

  province

  Palencia, Palencia (Spain)

• 1911 - 1912

  private collection

  Francisco Simón y Nieto, Palencia (Spain) *

• 1912

  dealer/antiquarian

  Feuardent Frères, Paris (France) *

• 1912 - 1930

  private collection

  Archer Milton Huntington, New York (United States) *

• 1930 - present

  museum

  The Hispanic Society of America, New York (United States)