Spiral earring with rosette ends
Date475-310 BCE
PeriodClassical
Object GeographyCyprus
CultureCypriot
Geography NotesSaid to be from Kourion, Cyprus
MediumGold over lead and zinc core with slaked lime paste
ClassificationMetalwork
ProvenanceFound by Luigi Palma di Cesnola (American Consul to Cyprus, 1865–1876); purchased by subscription by the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1874–1876; (sale, the Anderson Galleries, New York), April 20, 1928; purchased by John Ringling; bequest to The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 1936-present.
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN28.2306.b
Sculpted figures of both men and women in the Archaic period are often shown wearing pairs of thick spiral earrings with two to four twists. These ornaments would pass through one to three piercings in the ear. Their shape resembles this gold-covered example, which was likely found in a tomb.
On View
Not on viewWeight: 0.026 pounds (11.88 gm)
Width: 13/16 in. (2.07 cm)
Diameter: 15/16 in. (2.3–2.56 cm)
Diameter (interior): 5/16 in. (0.66–1.02 cm)
Rod
Length (if uncoiled): 4 15/16 in. (12.5 cm)
Diameter: 1/4 in. (0.65 cm)
Ornament
Diameter (end): 1/4 in. (0.64 cm)
Length (end, preserved): 1/4 in. (0.67 cm)
Medium Details
Color (Munsell soil color chart)
n/a
Inclusions
n/a
450-400 BC
475–310 BCE
second quarter of the 6th century BCE
4th–3rd century BCE
6th - 5th century BCE
2100-1950 BCE
