Near Eastern Gold Earring Pair with Garnets

£1,150.00

A stunning pair of Near Eastern gold earrings with beautiful garnet adornments. The earrings feature a robust hook with a large curving loop, finished with a small gold ball. A teardrop shaped bezel framed by small gold granules, holds the garnet in place (one slightly lighter in colour than the other). From the base of each bezel, three conical gold settings hold further garnets with subtly pointed tips embellishing the pieces.

Date: Circa 1st Millennium BC
Condition: Excellent Condition. The are some minor scratches to the surface on one of the garnets, and a small chip below one of the bezels. Some residue can be seen on one of the droplet garnets.

SOLD

SKU: MJ-13 Category: Tags: ,

Many grand civilizations inhabited the area of Western Asia in Antiquity, and their wealth and prosperity is witnessed by the very sophisticated precious metal crafting of jewellery. Gold would have been hammered down to a thin layer and manipulated into different shapes. Gold, electrum and silver jewellery would have featured gold granules, glass and semi-precious stone inlays and detailed engravings. Fine granulation, as we can see on this item, along with filigree, were at the centre of Near Eastern and Western Asiatic jewellery production and were later adopted by the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans.

To find out more about different metal decorative techniques please see our relevant blog post: Decorative Metalwork Techniques

Weight 7.6 g
Dimensions L 3.90 x W 1.50 cm
Culture

Semi-Precious Stones

Metal

Region

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