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Ball-and-disk earrings (pair)
Roman
Roman
1st century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Gold
Dimensions
Height: 4.5 - 4.7 cm (1 3/4 - 1 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Mary L. Smith Fund
Accession Number64.4a-b
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Earrings, flares, plugs, studs
DescriptionA pair of Roman gold earrings of the standard gold ball-and-disk type. The ball element is not a complete sphere and is made in two halves, carefully finished. This type of earring was worn in the 1st century A.D.
The hoops are comprised of spirally twisted wire, each decorated at bottom with a large cluster, or pyramid, of globules which are in turn decorated with pyramids of fine granulation. There is a convex disk spacer between spiral and globules. The catch plate is in the form of shield.
The hoops are comprised of spirally twisted wire, each decorated at bottom with a large cluster, or pyramid, of globules which are in turn decorated with pyramids of fine granulation. There is a convex disk spacer between spiral and globules. The catch plate is in the form of shield.
Signed
0
ProvenanceSaid to have been found at Baalbek in Lebanon; by 1957: Count X. Martin de Puytison Collection in Damascus (where he was Director of the Bank of Syria and Lebanon); by 1963: with Carlebach Gallery, Madison Avenue at 79th Street, New York 28, N.Y.; January 8, 1964: purchased by MFA from Carlebach Gallery