A gold chain necklace with hook-and-eye clasp, twenty-four hexagonal-section emerald beads, two facetted crystal beads with filigree collars, an amethyst melon bead, two small triangular-section amethyst beads to the centre, flanking a biconical granulated gold bead.

PROVENANCE:
Property of a central London gentleman; previously with a London, Mayfair gallery in the early 1990s; formerly in a 1970s collection.

LITERATURE:
Cf. Ruseva-Slokoska, L. Roman Jewellery, Sofia, 1991, item 103 for type.

FOOTNOTES:
Dr Bonewitz notes: 'These emeralds are almost certainly from Egypt, from the legendary 'Cleopatra's Mines'.'