Roman emerald and gold necklace 2nd

Roman emerald and gold necklace
2nd-3rd Century AD
Composed of seventeen polished emerald crystals of varying cross section, interspersed with cut-out gold figure of eight links. Fastened with a hook and domed boss clasp.
The practice of linking beads rather than stringing them together derived from the Hellenistic period. A similar form of necklace continued into the Byzantine era.
Length: 35 cm
Provenance:
With Peter Sharrer, New York USA; Private collection UK, acquired 1981
Literature:
An example of this type of Roman necklace combining fine gold links interspersed with beads of precious stones in the collection of the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia, Rome is
illustrated in Susan Weber Soros and Stefanie Walker (eds), 'Castellani and Italian Archaeological Jewelry', Yale University Press, 2004, p.144, cat no. 112. A necklace with very similar
emerald beads and gold links of slightly different form is in the collection of the British Museum (acquisition no. 1872, 0604.669), illustrated in Lois Sherr Dubin, 'The History of Beads, from
30,000 BC to the Present', New York, 1987, p. 54.

Download Report