Bronze belt clasp

second half of 7th century BCE
Not on view
Restituted
This artwork was restituted in September 2025. It is no longer in the museum’s collection.
This type of personal ornament is characteristic of northern Greece, particularly Western Macedonia and Thessaly. The extraordinary delicacy and technical mastery in the execution of the triangles and concentric circles are especially noteworthy. A similar object was discovered in a woman’s tomb at Kozani (modern Greek province of Macedonia), placed on the body’s pelvis, indicating its function as belt clasp or hanger.


The belt clasp belongs to the group of the so-called Macedonian bronzes, a wide range of bronze ornaments made in the northwest Aegean and south-central Balkans (late 8th-early 5th c. BCE), and mostly found in elite female graves and in Greek sanctuaries. Though an autonomous stylistic group, these objects present strong artistic connections with the neighboring Hallstatt culture of central Europe and were influenced by the Greek presence in the south (notably in Thessaly, and at Corinth).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bronze belt clasp
  • Period: Iron Age
  • Date: second half of 7th century BCE
  • Culture: Macedonian, Greek
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: H. 3 in. (7.6 cm); diameter 8 in. (20.3 cm)
  • Classification: Bronzes
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Mrs. Constance Goulandris Gift, in memory of Christos G. Bastis, 2001
  • Object Number: 2001.579
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.