From an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, NY in 2018
Ancient Egypt, Classical Greece, Rome, Byzantium, Iran, Turkmenistan, Eastern Europe, the Celts, the Carpathians
Jewellery from several civilizations and time periods, for its various functions:
ritual, display of social status, to mark a rite of passage, for adornment, pleasure, or fun.
Also for the function of beauty as a generator of happiness and contentment. The beauty not only of the object itself but also of the exquisite workmanship.
All jewellery in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, NY and some in an exhibition in the winter of 2018/2019: The Body Transformed
Chest ornament giving life and rule for eternity to Pharoah Senwosret, 1887-1878 BC, gold, carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise, garnet, green feldspar; Middle Kingdom Dynasty 12, Lahun, Egypt
Hair Rings, Tomb of a princess of the Lahun Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, 1887-1813 BC; modern wig and gold rings
Funerary Jewellery from the Tombs of the Three Foreign Wives of Thutmose III, c.1479-1425 BC; gold, melon beads on wire, faience, sweret bead on wire. New Kingdom Dynasty, Thebes, Egypt
Diadem with a pair of gazelle heads, gold, carnelian, opaque turquoise glass, glass. the Tombs of the Three Foreign Wives of Thutmose III, c.1479-1425 BC, New Kingdom Dynasty, Thebes, Egypt
Broad Collar of faience floral beads, 1390-1336 BC, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Egypt
Menat-necklace aegis with Isis in a broad collar, 664-343 BC, copper alloy, blue and green glass, Egyptian
Miniature broad collar thought to be of a divinity, 332-246 BC, tuquoise, carnelian, lapis lazuli and gold, early Ptolemaic period, Egyptian
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Fragment of a gold wreath of beaten gold, 320-300 BCE, from a tomb at Zaneska Gora on the north shores of the Black Sea
Belt plate with a stag, 1st to the second century AD, Transcaucasia probably Georgia, bronze
Pectoral ornament, silver, fire-gilded with openwork, stamping, decorative wire, pendants with wire decoration, wire chains with embossed pendants and bells, and table cut carnelians. Probably Teke tribe, Turmenistan. No date given
Head of a King, silver with mercury gilding, Iran, Sassanian period, 4th century AD
Eagle brooches, gold with garnets, c. 500, Ostrogothic
Byzantine
Gold bracelet with openwork decoration, c. 400, Byzantine
Gold pectoral with imperial medallions and coins, gold, niello, 539-50, Byzantine
Earrings with hanging pearls and gold, 6th-7th century, Byzantine
Necklace, sapphires, pearls, gold, smoky quartz, quartz, 6th-7th century, Byzantine
Bracelet, gold, silver, pearls, amethysts, sapphires, opals, quartz, emerald plasma, 6th to 7th century, Byzantine
Neck ring (torque), Iron Age, 1st century BC, found in Martinot, Belgium; gold, iron core, beeswax
Ancient Greece, Rome
Collar (hormos) with medallion of Dionysos, late 4th-3rd century, gold, Apulia, Italy
Gold earrings with Ganymede and the eagle, 330-300 BC, thought to be near Thessaloniki
Gold diadem with Herakles knot, 300-250 BC, gold and garnets, Ithaka, Greece
Golden arm bands with sea gods and goddesses (triton, tritoness), c. 200 BC, gold, thought to be from northern Greece
Amethyst intaglio portrait of a man. Roman, late Republican, c. 50-40 BCE
Sardonyx cameo with Aurora in a chariot. Greek or Roman, 1st century BCE to 1st century AD
Sardonyx cameo fragment with Jupiter astride an eagle. Greek or Roman, 1st century BCE to 1st century AD
Gold glass medallion with mother and child, Roman, thought to have been made in Alexandria in the early 300’s and said to have been found at Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli
