ear-reel
- Museum number
- 1872,0604.846
- Description
-
Gold ear reel, one of a pair. This spool-shaped ornament is made up from two end-plates, a spool-shaped side sheet and an open central tube which is turned over at the ends to hold the piece together. The die-formed faces are decorated with eight concentric rings.
- Production date
- 420BC-400BC
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 2.20 centimetres
-
Weight: 4.30 grammes
-
Thickness: 1.10 centimetres
- Curator's comments
-
Pair with 1872.6-4.845.
-
Williams and Ogden 1994
These spools were worn in the ears, as can be seen from contemporary and earlier representations in terracotta. They seem to have been particularly popular in East Greece, both in gold and a variety of other materials, but they also occur on Cyprus. An example with an open central tube has been found at Sardis. In addition, there are numerous ancient Egyptian antecedents for the shape, mainly in faience, and in India the use of such ornaments (some with remarkably similar concentric decoration) as earrings is well attested from before 500 BC up to recent times.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: BMCJ 2065-6. Sardis reel: Sardis, no. 85, pl. 8, figs 5-6. For similar spools see G. Jacopi, Clara Rhodos, vol. iii (Rhodes 1929), pp. 153-8, tombs 153 and 155 (tomb 153 contained an Athenian red-figured lebes gamikos in the manner of the Meidias Painter: ARV2, p. 1322, no. 14). For the Indian spools see M. Postel, Ear Ornaments of Ancient India (1989), passim.
- Location
- On display (G19/dc2)
- Acquisition date
- 1872
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1872,0604.846
