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This lovely volume illustrates in color superb examples of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman jewelry. Major types of Greek and Etruscan jewelry from the seventh to the first centuries B.C. are well represented, along with a few Roman imperial works. In exquisite miniature, these ornaments reflect the stylistic history of more monumental art: they are sculptures on a small scale. Underneath the shining splendor these gold objects -- works originally meant to be worn by men and women as a sign of wealth and power in life -- lies a more fundamental meaning. Gold, a mysterious power, was a means for people to communicate with the gods who rule human life. The skill of the ancient goldsmith has never been equaled. Although the techniques used are for the most part understood, the virtuosity and intricacy of manufacture have vet to be duplicated.
Jewellery appeared worldwide during the early phases of civilisation, when man, through his belief in the existence of supernatural forces and magic, laid down the substrate of religion. In those times, and for many centuries after, jewellery was regarded as having the power to attract benign forces or to avert evil, functioning as a magical medium. Its association with metals was of decisive importance, not least with gold which, being imperishable and untarnishable, was the only metal charged of itself with supernatural properties. In time the human intellect put aside the magical character of jewellery, though it was never cast off completely. By the beginning of the first millennium BC, to which the works of Greek goldsmithing discussed in this book belong, jewellery already had a long tradition behind it. Its form was often affected by the religious and metaphysical concepts of the age, as is succinctly noted in the Introduction. The manufacture of Greek gold jewellery depended on the possibility of access to the precious metal, the sources of and the techniques of working which, interwoven with myth and lore, are examined in sub-chapters. The founding of the colonies at first and the Macedonian expansion later, brought the Greeks into contact with both supplies of the raw material and traditional centres of goldsmithing, from where they also received new ornament types. These they transmuted, giving them a Greek identity, eventually creating a common language of jewellery that spread from the northern shores of the Euxine Pontus to Egypt, and from Italy to Asia. The development of jewellery is examined by category and bears witness to the influence of those same historical factors as contributed to the development of major art in the Hellenic world. Greek goldsmiths often emulated its achievements, also endowing this genre of the so-called minor arts with unique masterpieces.
This picture book features images of Ancient Egyptian Jewelry covering works from Pre-dynastic shell necklaces to intricately designed gold earrings of the Roman period. A brief introductory essay discusses the history of jewelry and the evolution of Ancient Egyptian jewelry craftsmanship.
00 Jewellery has a rare power to communicate, even across millennia, the feelings, beliefs, and aspirations of the people who wore it. Jewellery also contributes to the study of ancient art and metalworking techniques, for great skill was required to create what are often small-scale works of art. But the importance of surviving artifacts of the jeweller's craft--quite apart from the inherent attraction of individual pieces--is now increasing as the number of new scientific techniques available to archaeologists expands, complementing the more traditional methods of analysis. This book shows how important ancient jewellery is to interpreting the past. Jewellery has a rare power to communicate, even across millennia, the feelings, beliefs, and aspirations of the people who wore it. Jewellery also contributes to the study of ancient art and metalworking techniques, for great skill was required to create what are often small-scale works of art. But the importance of surviving artifacts of the jeweller's craft--quite apart from the inherent attraction of individual pieces--is now increasing as the number of new scientific techniques available to archaeologists expands, complementing the more traditional methods of analysis. This book shows how important ancient jewellery is to interpreting the past.
"The consummate mastery of Greek goldsmiths and the beauty of their designs elevated jewelry in the Classical period to glorious artistic heights. This volume presents nearly 200 of the finest surviving pieces made between the fifth and the early third century B.C., the era that also saw the creation of the Parthenon at Athens and the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the sculptures of Polykleitos, Praxiteles, and Lysippus, and the paintings of Polygnotos, Apollodoros, Zeuxis, and Nikias." "Drawn from the unrivaled collections of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the British Museum, London, the works in this book represent jewelry produced throughout the Greek world. Regional variations and preferences are seen in jewelry from Greece itself, as well as from the wealthy Greek cities in Asia Minor, the Crimea, and South Italy and from partially Hellenized areas such as Cyprus, Egypt, and the Eastern Mediterranean. The authors describe the goldsmiths' techniques in detail, with the aid of specially taken scanning electron microphotographs, and they discuss how the jewelry was worn, its iconography, and how it relates to other arts, such as drawing and sculpture. Each piece is illustrated in full color, with numerous color details showing the intricacy and subtlety of these masterpieces of ancient Greek craftsmanship."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
From the president of the National Jewelry Institute comes the largest collection of the oldest jeweled objects ever assembled. With sparkling photography and history throughout, the book will be supported by a major exhibit of the collection. These gorgeous artifacts—the oldest jeweled armor, weapons, jewelry, household objects, and more, with informative captions and stunning photography on every page—originated in Mesopotamia, Persia, Levant, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic world, from 4000 B.C.E. through 700 C.E. Artifacts appearing in the book are being lent to the exhibit by almost every major permanent collection of ancient objects in the world: jeweled treasures from the Louvre, the Berlin Museum, the Islamic collection at the Metropolitan, the Princeton Museum, and the Israeli Museum are shown together for the first time. Also included are interviews with major scholars and curators from around the world, speaking on ancient civilizations and the remaining artifacts that reveal their truly stunning cultures.
The fabled land of Nubia, whose very name means 'gold, ' was famous in ancient times for its supplies of precious metal, exotic material, and intricate craftsmanship. Many of the adornments made in Nubia are masterpieces of the jeweler's art--marvels of design and construction rivaling, and often surpassing, adornments made in Egypt and the rest of the ancient Mediterranean world. Although these unique treasures are among the most stunning to have survived from antiquity, they remain little known. Richly illustrated with beautiful photographs of these exquisite items, many of them never before published, Nubian Gold also places the jewelry within the cultural contexts in which it was manufactured and employed. It tells the story not only of the treasures themselves but of the exciting tales of their discovery and the rich background of the exotic and remote civilizations that produced them. The book also explores the innovative techniques used to procure the precious materials used in the jewelry and to craft them into intricate ornaments replete with magical purpose and coded meaning. Featured in the book are not only the intricately crafted pieces themselves but depictions of them in sculpture, relief, and painting as well as references to them in ancient texts, locating them within the full spectrum of Nubian history, from the earliest beginnings of society to the advent of Christianity.
The catalog of the exhibition of Thracian gold is preceded by essays which present a picture of life in ancient Thrace.
The spectacular jewels of ancient Egypt, long buried in desert tombs, are revealed in all their exotic beauty in this superb survey. Spanning more than 3,000 years, Ancient Egyptian Jewelry features nearly 200 magnificent objects and explores the surprisingly sophisticated techniques used to fashion jewelry from gold, silver, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and other precious and semi-precious stones.The suberb reproductions include not only actual jewelry but also wall paintings, sarcophagi, statues, and reliefs that depict ancient Egyptians wearing their treasures.
"Written by a team of the Gallery's own curators and visiting experts, Jewelry -- Ancient to Modern describes more than 700 pieces in special sections devoted to the Ancient near East, Egypt, Etruria, Greece, South Russia (Olbia), the Roman Empire, the nomadic tribes of the Migration Period, the Byzantine Empire, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries."--Page 2 of cover.