Pair of Earrings
Date: about 200 CE
Dimensions:
L: 3 in. (7.6 cm) (Dealer)
Medium: Gold, pearls, garnets, green glass
Place of Origin: Ancient Rome
Classification: Metalwork
Credit Line: Orion Fund
Object number: 2007.101A
Label Text:Navicella (“little boat”) earrings are so-called from the Latin navis, or ship, because the curved form of the principal pendant is reminiscent of a ship’s keel. These large and complex earrings show the continuation of Hellenistic Greek tour-de-force jewelry making traditions combined with the later Roman taste for colorful semiprecious stones (garnets, green plasmas or glass, and pearls) and symbolic animals (birds, fish). A wealthy lady, such as Umm’abi (depicted in the funerary relief nearby), would have worn similar jewelry, and would have been dressed in her finest things for entombment.
DescriptionThe inclusion of fish and bird iconography may yield information about place of fabrication and/or symbolism.
On view
In Collection(s)