Migration Period Objects at the Michael C. Carlos Museum

In 2014, the Michael C. Carlos Museum acquired a group of objects, gifted by James E. and Elizabeth J. Ferrell. After conducting a small research project on one of these pieces in 2016, I returned to the entire group in early 2019 to investigate them more thoroughly.  

My 2016 project (conducted with fellow student Leah Neiman) determined that object 2014.37.22 was likely a Visigothic belt buckle, an object of personal ornament from the late fifth or early sixth century CE. To determine this, we performed technical analyses under the direction of Chief Conservator Renée Stein, including XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence), and microscope analysis with Professor Emeritus in Geology at Emory University Dr. William Size. Additionally, we searched for objects that appeared similar to ours (comparanda) and consulted art historical, scientific, and archaeological scholarship to support our hypotheses.

Belt buckle, Visigothic, 475-525 CE, Copper alloy, garnet, gold gilding, Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2014.37.22, Gift of James E. and Elizabeth J. Ferrell

As a graduate student in Art History at Emory University, the Mellon Fellowship in Object Centered Curatorial Research presented an amazing opportunity for me to extend this analysis to the other seven objects in the group. When I thought about how to frame my project, I eventually came to the decision to investigate their various contexts: their material contexts (what they are made of), their geographic contexts (where they were created), and the original contexts of their use (in short, trying to place why these were made, when, and for whom). By doing so, I would be able to more definitively classify each object while coming to understand how they represented the cultures that produced them.

While my methods of research remained much the same, this funding allowed me to travel to multiple museums (national and international) to view comparanda in person as well as consult with more scholars in the field. In particular, I received invaluable help from curators Ruth Allen and Amanda Hellman from the Michael C. Carlos Museum, as well as scholar Dr. Noël Adams who is a specialist in this area of research. We ultimately concluded that these objects were all from the Migration Period, roughly between 400 and 700 CE, and were all objects of personal ornament.

(Left to Right, Top to Bottom) Belt buckle, Visigothic, 525-560 CE, Copper alloy, garnet, glass, 2014.37.14; Belt mount, Visigothic?, Copper alloy, iron, gold, glass, 2014.37.18; Strap mount, Visigothic?, Copper alloy, garnet, 2014.37.20; Belt mount, Ostrogothic?, Copper alloy, gold, silver, garnet, 2014.37.19; Buckle loop, Visigothic?, Copper alloy, 2014.37.15; Buckle counterplate, Mediterranean, Vandal?, Copper alloy, garnet, banded glass?, 2014.37.17; Strap end, Visigothic?, Copper alloy, iron, garnet?, glass, 2014.37.16. All objects are in the collection of the Michael C. Carlos Museum and were gifts of James E. and Elizabeth J. Ferrell.

After completing this research, we found that while most of the Carlos Museum’s Migration Period objects are Visigothic, the collection also includes potential Ostrogothic and Vandal objects. Attempting to understand the striking similarities, subtle differences, and evolution of styles across Migration Period personal ornament became the ultimate focus of my fellowship.

Ornament in Flux is the end product of this research, a digital exhibition rooted in academic scholarship and scientific observation which seeks to bring attention to these incredible objects and their roles in identity expression within the fluctuating Migration Period. Please begin your exploration below.