Details

LOT 0006

Romano-Egyptian Gold Chain Necklace with Emeralds

3RD CENTURY AD

15 1/4" (18 grams, 39cm).

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'.'

CONDITION