ear-ring
- Museum number
- 1999,0329.1
- Description
-
Pair of gold ear-rings.
These, a rare form of earring, are in the shape of a 'dikaras' (double cornucopia). The two horns rise from a single lotus, which is attached to the clasp of the earring and at the top by a collar of small tongues formed from twisted wires, above which are three rows of wire that, at the back, are attached to the hoop of the earring. Below this band are two bunches of grapes formed from small granules of gold, and above it four globular fruits and two stylized pyramidal cakes (pyramidia) emerge from the top of the horns. A rosette surrounded by plain and twisted wires is joined to the twisted hoop of the earring and decorates the top of the cornucopia. A star-shaped floral motif with two granules at the bottom decorates the central part of the cornucopia.
- Production date
- 3rdC BC (Register records the date as 2ndC BC)
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 0.90 centimetres (rosette disc)
-
Height: 2.50 centimetres (max)
- Curator's comments
- Walker & Higgs 2001
The dikeras was a symbol of fertility in Egypt and was also found on coins bearing the portraits of Arsinoe II and Cleopatra VII, and on statues identified as these Ptolemaic queens. These earrings would have been worn with the cornucopia inverted. An elaborate pair of earrings connected by a chain, and now in Hamburg, have a double cornucopia suspended from a disc and hoop earring (see, H.Hoffmann and V. von Claer, Antiker Gold und Silberschmuck: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg' (Mainz, 1968), pp.106-9, cat. no. 68.
Bibliography:
S. Walker & P. Higgs [eds.], 'Cleopatra of Egypt' (London, 2001), p. 70 [49].
- Location
- On display (G22/dc8)
- Acquisition date
- 1999
- Acquisition notes
- Purchased through the Departmental Purchase Fund. Nella Marin inherited the ear-ring from her grandmother in 1990.
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1999,0329.1
