Details

LOT 1359

Viking Period Rus Silver Temple Earring Pair

10TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.

2 1/8 - 2 1/4 in. (30 grams total, 55-57 mm).

Each composed of a decoratively twisted upper hoop, bulbous collars and a large central bulb with projecting cones and granules. [2, No Reserve]

Provenance

From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

Literature

See Various, Археалогія Беларусі. Т. 1., A-K, Minsk, 2009, p.372, for similar earring typology.

Footnotes

This style of earring was typical among Slavic women in the 8th-12th centuries, an imitation of Eastern Roman models. Examples have been found in Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, and with similar decoration in Belarus. Such rings were also worn as part of head-dresses, in which context they are known as ‘temple rings’ because they were worn by women near the temples. They were usually made of base metals, but some silver and gold examples also survive. Different tribes had their own designs, which were often threaded onto a cord, forming part of a
head-dress, or woven directly into braids of hair.