The Greek jewelry of the best period is of extraordinary delicacy and beauty. Fine examples are shown in the British Museum from Melos and elsewhere. Undoubtedly, however, the most brilliant collection of such ornaments is that of the Hermitage, which was derived from the tombs of Kerch and the Crimea. It contains examples of the purest Greek work, together with objects which must have been of local origin, as is shown by the themes which the artist has chosen for his reliefs. Fig. 18 illustrates the jewelry of the Hermitage (see also Ear-Ring).
As further examples of Greek jewelry see the pendant oblong ornament for containing a scroll (fig. 19).
 | ||
| Fig. 19. | Fig. 20. | Fig. 21. |
The ear-rings (figs. 20, 21) are also characteristic.
| Figs. | 59-70 | (Plate II.) | Examples of fine Greek jewelry, in the British Museum. |
| ” | 59-60 | ” | Pair of ear-rings, from a grave at Cyme in Aeolis, with filigree work and pendant Erotes. |
| ” | 61 | ” | Small bracelet. |
| ” | 62-63 | ” | Small gold reel with repoussé figures of Nereid with helmet of Achilles, and Eros. From Cameiros (Rhodes). |
| ” | 64 | ” | Filigree ornament (ear-ring?) with Eros in centre. From Syria. |
| ” | 65 | ” | Medallion ornament with repoussé head of Dionysos and filigree work. (Blacas coll.) |
| ” | 66 | ” | Stud, with filigree work. |
| ” | 67-68 | ” | Pair of ear-rings, of gold, with filigree and enamel, from Eretria. |
| ” | 69 | ” | Diadem, with filigree, and enamel scales, from Tarquinii. |
| ” | 70 | ” | Necklace pendants. |
Etruscan jewelry at its best is not easily distinguished from the Greek, but it tends in its later forms to become florid and diffuse, without precision of design. The granulation of surfaces practised with the highest degree of refinement by the Etruscans was long a puzzle and a problem to the modern jeweller, until Castellani of Rome discovered gold-workers in the Abruzzi to whom the method had descended through many generations. He induced some of these men to go to Naples, and so revived the art, of which he contributed examples to the London Exhibition of 1872 (see [Filigree]).
| Figs. | 71-77 | (Plate II.) | are well-marked examples of Etruscan work, in the British Museum. |
| ” | 71 | ” | Pair of sirens, repoussé, forming a hook and eye fastening. From Chiusi (?). |
| ” | 72 | ” | Early fibula. Horse and chimaera. (Blacas coll.) |
| ” | 74 | ” | Medallion-shaped fibula, of fine granulated work, with figures of sirens in relief, and set with dark blue pastes. (Bale coll.) |
| ” | 73, 75 | ” | Pair of late Etruscan ear-rings. |
| ” | 76, 77 | ” | Pair of late Etruscan ear-rings, in the florid style. |
The jewels of the Roman empire are marked by a greater use of large cut stones in combination with the gold, and by larger surfaces of plain and undecorated metal. The adaptation of imperial gold coins to the purposes of the jeweller is also not uncommon.
| Figs. | 78-82 | (Plate II.) | Late Roman imperial jewelry, in the British Museum. |
| ” | 78 | ” | Large pendant ear-ring, set with stones and pearls. From Tunis, 4th century. |
| ” | 79 | ” | Pierced-work pendant, set with a coin of the emperor Philip. |
| ” | 80 | ” | Ear-ring, roughly set with garnets. |
| ” | 81 | ” | Bracelet, with a winged cornucopia as central ornament, set with plasmas, and with filigree and leaf work. |
| ” | 82 | ” | Bracelet, roughly set with pearls and stones. From Tunis, 4th century. |