Near Eastern gold earring
1st millennium BC
Drop: 3.1 cm
The single earring in the form of an upturned basket or calyx. Parallel double loops are formed from two short columns which extend up from the flat top of the pendant, merging on one side to form the hook to go through the ear and on the other to form the catch. The openwork body created from eleven gold foil wrapped vertical elements with a flat ring joining them below which hang delicate pyramid formations of granulation (one completely missing and 2 with losses). In the centre a single column with trefoil sealing plate and further pyramidical granulation which may represent the stigma if indeed this is a stylised calyx. The flat circular disc further decorated with two flat triangles and edging border of granulation.
Condition: Intact, except for three of the granulated tips which are now lost; with modern gold suspension hook added for use as a pendant.
Literature: For a similar, though more ornate, example see K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop, 'Western Asiatic Jewellery, c. 3000-612 BC' (London, 1971), p. 190, pl. 137.
Provenance: UK collection, acquired 1970s to 1990s
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1st millennium BC
Drop: 3.1 cm
The single earring in the form of an upturned basket or calyx. Parallel double loops are formed from two short columns which extend up from the flat top of the pendant, merging on one side to form the hook to go through the ear and on the other to form the catch. The openwork body created from eleven gold foil wrapped vertical elements with a flat ring joining them below which hang delicate pyramid formations of granulation (one completely missing and 2 with losses). In the centre a single column with trefoil sealing plate and further pyramidical granulation which may represent the stigma if indeed this is a stylised calyx. The flat circular disc further decorated with two flat triangles and edging border of granulation.
Condition: Intact, except for three of the granulated tips which are now lost; with modern gold suspension hook added for use as a pendant.
Literature: For a similar, though more ornate, example see K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop, 'Western Asiatic Jewellery, c. 3000-612 BC' (London, 1971), p. 190, pl. 137.
Provenance: UK collection, acquired 1970s to 1990s
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1st millennium BC
Drop: 3.1 cm
The single earring in the form of an upturned basket or calyx. Parallel double loops are formed from two short columns which extend up from the flat top of the pendant, merging on one side to form the hook to go through the ear and on the other to form the catch. The openwork body created from eleven gold foil wrapped vertical elements with a flat ring joining them below which hang delicate pyramid formations of granulation (one completely missing and 2 with losses). In the centre a single column with trefoil sealing plate and further pyramidical granulation which may represent the stigma if indeed this is a stylised calyx. The flat circular disc further decorated with two flat triangles and edging border of granulation.
Condition: Intact, except for three of the granulated tips which are now lost; with modern gold suspension hook added for use as a pendant.
Literature: For a similar, though more ornate, example see K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop, 'Western Asiatic Jewellery, c. 3000-612 BC' (London, 1971), p. 190, pl. 137.
Provenance: UK collection, acquired 1970s to 1990s