=Studs, etc.=--Links and studs of Roman times (No. =387=) bear
a striking resemblance to the modern articles, as does a coiled
hook-and-eye which dates actually from the Bronze Age Period (No.
=388=). A peculiar fastening is seen in the double hooks which
probably served to loop together the two sides of a shawl or cloak
(No. =389=). They are probably of Roman date, and come in some
instances from the province of Gaul.
=Pins.=--Some of the pins may have been used equally well to fasten
the clothing or to adorn the hair; but others were evidently designed
to serve only one of these purposes. Those in carved ivory are plainly
hair-pins (No. =390=; fig. 161). The roughly worked busts of Roman
ladies of the Empire indicate the period to which the series belongs.
The little statuette is intended to represent Aphrodite wringing the
water out of her hair, after rising from the sea. A fine gold pin
similarly modelled is exhibited in the Gold Ornament Room (Case K;
No. 3034). The ivory hand, which holds a cone and is encircled by a
serpent, has some magical significance, like the bronze votive-hands
in Case 106 (p. 57).
[Illustration: FIG. 161.--ROMAN IVORY HAIR-PINS (NO. 390). 1:2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 162.--BRONZE AND SILVER PINS, OF MYCENAEAN AND
GREEK PERIODS (NOS. 391-6). 1:2.]
The metal pins are less elaborate. The simplest shape was straight and
headless, a direct copy of the natural thorn which first suggested the
idea. A very primitive head is seen on the small bronze pin which is
bent round at the top (No. =391=; fig. 162_a_). It was found in the
island of Kalymnos, and belongs to the pre-Mycenaean age, say 2000
B.C. A silver pin is similarly bent, but as it has a head as well,
is not so early (No. =392=; fig. 162_b_). Another prehistoric type is
represented by several bronze pins which were excavated from tombs of
the late Mycenaean age at Enkomi in Cyprus (No. =393=; fig. 162_c_).
These are pierced with eyes in which chains were fastened to secure
the pins to the dress or to each other. Three pins crowned by large
ivory knobs come from the same site and belong to the same period (No.
=394=; fig. 162_d_). The bronze pin with a head made of several discs
is Greek of the sixth century B.C., as it appears in the paintings
of the François Vase at Florence, which is an Attic work of that date
(No. =395=; figs. 162_e_, 163). Another classical type is the silver
pin with a moulded head (No. =396=; fig. 162_f_). Others of less
remarkable designs cannot be definitely dated.
=Toilet.=--In the most personal aspects of life and manners there is
least room for change, for in the course of ages it is not man that
has altered, but his surroundings; and the study of such intimate
details reveals a close similarity between the ancient and the modern
worlds.
[Illustration: FIG. 163.--A WOMAN IN THE DORIAN _Chiton_, SHOWING THE
PIN ON SHOULDER.]
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