Pair of earrings, The Met collection [17.190.1666]
8.3 x 3.2 x 0.7 cm; ring diameter 2.5 cm
6th-7th century. Gold and pearls
Typical design with a ring, loop-in-loop chains and pearls, very popular all over Byzantine world. Long and beautiful.
6th-7th century earrings found in Greece, Kalymnos and Erythraea (Crete), from the British Museum collection
earrings pic. 1) inv. no. 1856,0826.722 (length 8.9 cm)
earrings pic. 2) inv. no. AF.350
Photos from [Flickr]
These earrings are dated to 200-300 CE, that is surprisingly early.
Made of gold with pearls and amethyst. The endings of two chains look like a re-work. Originally all chains were ended with amethyst beads most likely, a small bead may have been placed instead of damaged large amethysts.
Earrings are attributed to Denderah, Egypt.
Dimensions: 6.7 x 2.54 cm
Royal Ontario Museum collection inv. no. 952X185.18.A
[inv. no. 57.1729]
From The Walters collection is a gold earring with crosses and amethyst beads.
Earring is dated to the 6th century, comes from Egypt. Has dimensions: 9.7 x 3.7 x 0.6 cm.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston inv. no. 1991.1021a-b
Byzantine earrings with crosses on chains often appear at auctions. Like a pair sold by Christies [dated 5th-6th century; gold with pearls, emerald and garnet; 9.7 cm long].
In this case, however, it is difficult to say whether this is a re-work for the needs of sale.
