Byzantine Gold Earrings with Gemstone Drops

6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

3 1/2 - 3 3/4 in. (13.6 grams total, 90-96 mm).

A pair of gold earrings, each with a tapering hoop and chain suspending a cross set with polished garnet at the centre and a pearl bead to each arm, drop positioned at the centre of the chain composed of a gold stem with coiled wire sleeve, granulated bead and emerald bead below. [2]

Provenance

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11635-198428.

Literature

Cf. for similarly complex drop earrings see Ross, M.C., Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Volume 2: Jewelry, Enamels and Art of the Migration Period, Washington, 2005, pl.LXXXII, item 166, pl.LXV, item 132, and similar crosses on a necklace in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York under reference 17.190.1667.

CONDITION

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LOT 0160