bracelet
- Museum number
- 1889,1015.8
- Description
-
Terminal from a silver penannular bracelet in the form of a ram's head; the finely detailed animal's head is hollow, made of beaten metal (part of one side is broken away); beaded ring at the ram's neck; border of filigree tongues, probably soldered onto the metal, at the junction of the terminal with the hoop; a small fragment of the hoop survives, also hollow; both elements are filled with a white clay-like substance; metal heavily corroded.
- Production date
- 475BC-400BC
- Dimensions
-
Length: 4.30 centimetres
-
Weight: 7 grammes
- Curator's comments
- Acquisition discussed in two letters from C. Christian to A.S. Murray dated 8 June and 18 June 1889 (GR Archives Original Letters; see also Murray's comments in his letter to C. Christian of 15 July (GR Archives Letter-Book 1880-96, fol. 185).
All the items in this registration group are described as coming from Mari, but in the letter of 8 June, 1889, only the cylinder seal in this group is given a findspot (Moni, which may actually mean Maroni as all three names were commonly confused at this time). The curse tablets in this accession group almost certainly came from elsewhere, probably Amathus, as one of the selentite fragments joins a piece in the collection bought from Captain Handcock in 1891 (GR 1891,4-18.1-59).
Bracelets with animal-head terminals in silver and gold are fairly common at Amathus and Kourion during the CC period, though silver examples survive less frequently, as demonstrated by the condition of this item. For a general account of the type based on examples from Amathus, see Laffineur R. 1992, 'Bijoux et orfèvrerie', in La nécropole d'Amathonte Tombes 113-367. VI. Bijoux, armes, verre, astragales et coquillages, squelettes (Nicosia), 15 (type e) [bull's head from tomb 356]; Examples from older excavtions at Amathus, including BM excavations of 1893-4, are discussed in Laffineur R. 1986, Amathonte III. Testimonia 3. L'orfèvrerie (Paris), 99.
The present item is very close in type to examples from both Amathus and Kourion, suggesting a common wokshop and further supporting the possibility of a findspot in the Limassol area if the provenanced examples were made around there.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1889
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1889,1015.8