Jewellery is thought to be one of the oldest forms of art within history, with the presence of rings, bangles and necklaces’ being present in almost all ancient societies. Many grand civilisations inhabited the area of Western Asia in Antiquity, and their wealth and prosperity is witnessed by the very sophisticated, interesting, and unique styles of jewellery discovered in the area. 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 discover more on ancient metalwork, please see our relevant blog post: Decorative Metalwork Techniques