Unknown Maker, Roman

To cleanse the skin, ancient Romans applied perfumed oil and then scraped it away using a small, curved metal tool known as a strigil. This bronze strigil was most likely cast by the solid lost-wax method and hammered. In order to form the rounded blade, the cast piece would have been carefully flattened using various techniques. As this strigil was hammered it would have been annealed, or heated evenly and then cooled in order to reshape and restore the metal and prevent it from becoming too brittle. Although the surface was once a warm brown color, prolonged exposure to oxygen and mineral-rich environments has caused extensive yellowish corrosion and a dark, mottled-green patina.