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JEWELRY (O. Fr. jouel, Fr. joyau, per...
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See also:JEWELRY (O. Fr. jouel, Fr. joyau, perhaps from joie, joy; See also:Lat. gaudium; retranslated into See also:Low Lat. jocale, a See also:toy, from jocus, by misapprehension of the origin of the word)
, a collective See also:term for jewels, or the See also:art connected with them—jewels being See also:personal ornaments, usually made of gems, See also:precious stones, &c., with a setting of precious See also:metal; in a restricted sense it is also See also:common to speak of a See also:gem-See also: The two remaining princesses were Ita and Khnumit . The art of the nameless Memphite jewellers of the XIIth Dynasty is marked by perfect accuracy of See also:execution, by sureness of intention, by decorative See also:instinct and sobriety in See also:design, and by the service-able nature of the jewels for actual See also:wear . All forms of work are represented—including chiselling, soldering, See also:inlaying with coloured stones, moulding and working with See also:twisted wires and See also:filigree . Here also occurs the earliest instance of granulated work, with small grains of gold, soldered on a fiat See also:surface (fig . I) . The See also:principal items in this dazzling See also:group are the following: Three gold pectorals (fig . 2 and See also:Plate I. See also:figs . 35, 36) worked a jour (with the interstices See also:left open) ; on the front See also:side they are inlaid with coloured stones, the See also:fine cloisons being the only portion of the gold that is visible ; on the back, the gold surfaces are most delicately carved, in See also:low See also:relief . Two gold crowns (Plate I. figs . 32, 34), found together, are curiously contrasted in See also:character . The one (fig . 32) is of a formal design, of gold, inlaid (the plume, Plate I. fig 33, was attached to it) ; the other (fig .
34) has a multitude of See also:star-like See also:flowers, embodied in a filigree of daintily twisted wires
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A See also:dagger with inlaid patterns on the handle shows extraordinary perfection of finish
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Nearly a thousand years later we have another remarkable collection of See also:Egyptian art in the jewelry taken from the See also:coffin of See also:Queen Aah-hotp, discovered in 1859 by See also:Mariette in the entrance to 'the valley of the tombs of the See also:kings and now preserved in the See also:Cairo museum
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Compared with the Dahshur treasure the jewelry of Aah-hotp is in parts rough and coarse, but none the less it is marked by the ingenuity and mastery of the materials that characterize all the work of the Egyptians
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Hammered work, incised and chased work, the evidence of soldering, the combinations of layers of gold plates, together with coloured stones, are all See also:present, and the handicraft is See also:complete in every respect
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A diadem of gold and See also:enamel, found at the back of the head of the See also:mummy of the queen (fig
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3), was fixed in the back See also:hair, showing the See also:cartouche in front
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The See also:box holding this cartouche has on the upper surface the titles of the See also: Fig . 5 is a gold drop, inlaid with See also:turquoise or blue See also:paste, in the shape of a fig . A gold See also:chain (fig . 6) is formed of wires closely plaited and very flexible, the ends terminating in the heads of See also:water See also:fowl, and having small rings to secure the See also:collar behind . To the centre is suspended by a small See also:ring a scarabaeus of solid gold inlaid with lapis lazuli . We have an example of a See also:bracelet, similar to those in modern use (fig . 7), and stars formed of combined crosses, with crosses in the centre forming spikes—all elaborately ornamented in detail . The See also:spiral forms an incessant decoration from its facile See also:production and repetition by means of twisted gold See also:wire . Grasshoppers or See also:tree crickets in gold repousse suspended by chains and probably used for the of perforated ornaments for See also:attachment to the clothing . There are also perforated ornaments belonging to neck-laces, with See also:intaglio engravings of such subjects as a contest of a man and See also:lion, and a See also:duel of two warriors, one of whom stabs his antagonist in the The heads of these ornaments were of gold, with silver See also:blades or pointed pins inserted for use . The bodies of the two stags See also:rest on fronds of the date-See also:palm growing out of the See also:stem which receives the See also:pin . Another remarkable series is composed of figures of See also:women with doves . Some have one See also:dove resting on the head; others have three doves, one on the head and the others resting on arms . The arms in both instances are extended to the An extraordinary diadem was found upon the head of one of the bodies discovered in the same See also:tomb with many objects similar to those noticed above . It is 25 in. in length, covered with See also:shield-like or rosette ornaments in repousse, the relief being very low but perfectly distinct, and further ornamented by See also:thirty-six large leaves of repousse gold attached to it . As an example of design and perfection of detail, another smaller diadem found in another tomb may be noted (fig . 14) . It is of gold plate, so thick as to require no " piping " at the back to sustain it; but in See also:general the repousse examples have a piping of See also:copper wire . The admirable inlaid daggers of the IVth See also:grave at See also:Mycenae are unique in their kind, with their subjects of a lion See also:hunt, of a lion See also:chasing a See also:herd of antelopes, of See also:running lions, of See also:cats See also:hunting See also:wild See also:duck,.of inlaid lilies, and of geometric patterns . The subjects are inlaid in, gold of various tints, and silver, in See also:bronze plates which are inserted in the See also:flat surfaces of the dagger-blades . In See also:part also the subjects are rendered in relief and gilded . The whole is executed with marvellous precision and vivid See also:representation of See also:motion . To a certain limited extent these daggers are paralleled by a dagger and See also:hatchet found in the treasure of Queen Aah-hotp mentioned above, but in their most characteristic features there is little resemblance . The gold ornaments found by See also:Schliemann at Hissarlik, the supposed site of See also:Troy, See also:divide themselves, generally speaking, into two See also:groups, one being the " See also:great treasure " of diadems, See also:ear-rings, beads, See also:brace-lets, &c., which seem the product of a See also:local and uncultured art . The other group, which were found in smaller " treasures," have spirals and rosettes similar to those of Mycenae . The See also:discovery, however, of the gold treasures of the Artemision at See also:Ephesus has brought out points of See also:affinity between the Hissarlik treasures and those of Ephesus, and has made any reasoning difficult, in view of the uncertainties surrounding the Hissarlik finds . The group with and worn by all persons of rank . It is formed of two pieces joined by a See also:hinge, and is decorated with figures in repousse on a ground inlaid with lapis lazuli . That the Assyrians used personal decorations of a very distinct character, and no doubt made of precious materials, is proved by the bas-reliefs from which a considerable collection of jewels could be gathered, such as bracelets, ear-rings and necklaces . Thus, for example, in the See also:British Museum we have representations of See also:Assur-nazirpal, king of See also:Assyria (c . 885–86o B.C.), wearing a See also:cross (fig . 8) very similar to the Maltese cross of modern times . It happens, however, that the excavations have not hitherto been fertile in actual re-mains of gold work from Assyria . See also:Chance also has so far ordained that the excavations in See also:Crete should not be particularly See also:rich in ornaments of gold . A few isolated objects have been found, .such as a duck and other pendants, and also several necklaces with beads of the Argonaut See also:shell-See also:fish See also:pattern . More striking than these is a See also:short bronze See also:sword . The handle has an See also:agate See also:pommel, and is covered with gold plates, engraved with spirited scenes of lions and wild goats (fig . 9, A . J . See also:Evans in Archaeologia, 59, 447) . In general, however, the gold jewelry of the later Minoan periods is more brilliantly represented by the finds made on the See also:main-See also:land of See also:Greece and at Enkomi in See also:Cyprus . Among the former the gold ornaments found by Heinrich Schliemann in the See also:graves of Mycenae are pre-eminent . The objects found ranged over most of the personal ornaments still in use; necklaces with gold beads and pendants, butterflies (fig. to), cuttlefish (fig . II), single and concentric circles, rosettes and leafage, with perforations for attachment to clothing, crosses decoration of the hair, and a See also:griffin (fig . 12), having the upper part of the See also:body of an See also:eagle and the See also:lower parts of a lion, with wings decorated with spirals; are among the more remarkable examples See also:throat . There are also pinheads and brooches formed of two stags lying down (fig . 13), the bodies and necks See also:crossing each other, and the horns See also:meeting symmetrically above the heads, forming a See also:finial . See also:elbow, the hands being placed on the breasts .
These ornaments are also perforated, and were evidently sewed on the dresses, although there is some evidence that an example with three doves has been fastened with a pin
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Mycenaean See also:affinities (fig
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15) includes necklaces, brooches, bracelets (g), hair-pins (a.), ear-rings (c, d, e, f), with and without pendants, beads and twisted wire drops The See also:majority of these are ornamented with spirals of twisted wire, or small rosettes, with fragments of stones in the centres
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The twisted wire ornaments were evidently portions of necklaces
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A circular See also:plaque decorated with a rosette
(h) is very similar to those found at Mycenae, and a conventionalized eagle (k) is characteristic of much of the detail found at that See also:place as well as at Hissarlik
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They were all of pure gold, and the wire must have been See also:drawn through a plate of harder metal—probably bronze
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The principal ornaments differing from those found at Mycenae are diadems or head fillets of pure hammered gold (b) cut into thin plates, attached to rings by See also:double gold wires, and fastened together at the back with thin twisted wire
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To these pendants (of which those at the two ends are nearly three times the length of those forming the central portions) are attached small figures, probably of idols
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It has been assumed that these were worn across the forehead by women, the See also:long pendants falling on each side of the See also:face
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The jewelry of the See also:close of the Mycenaean See also:period is best represented by the rich finds of the See also:cemetery of Enkomi near See also:Salamis, in Cyprus
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This See also: In its geometric patterns the art of Enkomi is entirely Mycenaean, but special stress is laid on the mythical forms that were inherited by See also:Greek art, such as the sphinx and the gryphon . Figs . 37–48 (Plate I.) are examples of the See also:late Mycenaean treasures from Enkomi . Ear-rings . Diadem, to be tied on the forehead . The impressed figure of a sphinx is repeated twelve times . Ear-rings, originally in See also:bull's head See also:form (fig . 40) . Later, the same general form is retained, but decorative patterns (figs . 41, 46) take the place of the bull's head . Pin, probably connected by a chain with a See also:fellow, to be used as a cloak fastening . See also:Pomegranate pendant, with fine granulated work . • Pins as No . 42 . The heads are of vitreous paste . (See above.) Pendant ornament, in See also:lotus-form, of a See also:pectoral, inlaid with coloured pastes . „ 48 „ Small See also:slate See also:cylinder, set in filigree . Another find of importance was that of a collection of gold ornaments from one of the Greek islands (said to be See also:Aegina) which also found its way to the British Museum . Here we find the themes of archaic Greek art, such as a figure holding up two water-birds, in immediate connexion with Mycenaean gold patterns . Figs . 49–53 (Plate I.) are specimens from this treasure . 49 „ Plate with repousse ornament for sewing on a See also:dress . Pendant . Figure with two water-birds, on a lotus See also:base, and having serpents issuing from near his See also:middle, modified from Egyptian forms . Fig . 51 (Plate I.) Ring, with cut blue See also:glass-pastes in the grooves . Pendant ornament, repousse, and originally inlaid with pieces of cut glass-paste . Pendant ornament, with See also:dogs and apes, modified from Egyptian forms . For the beginnings of Greek art proper, the most striking series of personal jewels is the great See also:deposit of ornaments which was found in 1905 by D . G . See also:Hogarth in the See also:soil beneath the central basis of the archaic See also:temple of See also:Artemis of Ephesus . The gold ornaments in question (amounting in all to about l000 pieces) were mingled with the closely packed See also:earth, and must necesk sarily, it would seem, have been in the nature of vo- tive offerings, made at the end of the 7th or the beginning of the 6th See also:century B.c . The hoard was rich in pins, brooches, beads and stamped disks of gold . The greater part of the find is at See also:Constantinople, but a portion was assigned to the British Museum, which had undertaken the excavations . Figs . 54–58 (Plate II.) Examples of the Ephesus hoard . 54 ,, See also:Electrum pin, with pomegranate head . 55 „ See also:Hawk ornament . 56 „ Electrum pin . 57, 58 „ Electrum ornaments for sewing on drapery . The cemeteries of Cyprus have yielded a rich See also:harvest of jewelry of Graeco-Phoenician See also:style of the 7th and following centuries B.C . Figs . 16 and 15 are typical examples of a ring and ear-ring from Cyprus . Greek, See also:Etruscan and See also:Roman ornaments partake of very similar characteristics . Of course there is variety in design and sometimes in treatment, but it does not rise to any special individuality . Fretwork is a distinguishing feature of all, together with the See also:wave ornament, the See also:guilloche, and the occasional use of the human figure . The workmanship is often of a character which modern gold-workers can only See also:rival with their best skill, and can never surpass . 37, 38 39 40, 41, 46 „ 42 43 44, 45 46 47 50 52 53 The Greek jewelry of the best period is of extraordinary delicacy and beauty . Fine examples are shown in the British Museum from Melos and elsewhere . Undoubtedly, however, the most brilliant collection of such ornaments is that of the Hermitage, which was derived from the tombs of See also:Kerch and the See also:Crimea . It contains examples of the purest Greek work, together with objects which must have been of local origin, as is shown by the themes which the artist has chosen for his reliefs . Fig . 18 illustrates the jewelry of the Hermitage (see also EAR-RING) . As further examples of Greek jewelry see the pendant oblong ornament for containing a See also:scroll (fig . 19) . The ear-rings (figs . 20, 21) are also characteristic . Figs . 59-70 (Plate II.) Examples of fine Greek jewelry, in the British Museum . Pair of ear-rings, from a grave at Cyme in See also:Aeolis, with filigree work and pendant Erotes . „ 61 „ Small bracelet . „ 62-63 Small gold See also:reel with repousse figures of Nereid with See also:helmet of See also:Achilles, and See also:Eros . From Cameiros (See also:Rhodes) . „ 64 Filigree ornament (ear-ring?) with Eros in centre . From See also:Syria . „ 65 Medallion ornament with repousse head of Dionysos and filigree work . (Blacas See also:coll.) 66 See also:Stud, with filigree work . 67-68 „ Pair of ear-rings, of gold, with filigree and enamel, from See also:Eretria . 69 Diadem, with filigree, and enamel scales, from See also:Tarquinii . „ 70 „ Necklace pendants . Etruscan jewlery at its best is not easily distinguished from the Greek, but it tends in its later forms to become florid and diffuse, without precision of design . The granulation of surfaces practised with the highest degree of refinement by the Etruscans was long a See also:puzzle and a problem to the modern jeweller, until Castellani of See also:Rome discovered gold-workers in the Abruzzi to whom the method had descended through many generations . 
He induced some of these men to go to See also:Naples, and so revived the art, of which he contributed examples to the See also:London See also:Exhibition of 1872 (see FILIGREE) . Figs . 71-77 (Plate II.) are well-marked examples of Etruscan work, in the British Museum . Pair of See also:sirens, repousse, forming a hook and eye fastening . From See also:Chiusi (?) . Early fibula . See also:Horse and See also:chimaera . (Blacas coll.) Medallion-shaped fibula, of fine granulated work, with figures of sirens in relief, and set with dark blue pastes . (See also:Bale coll.) Pair of late Etruscan ear-rings . 76, 77 „ Pair of late Etruscan ear-rings, in the florid style . The jewels of the Roman See also:empire are marked by a greater use of large cut stones in See also:combination with the gold, and by larger surfaces of See also:plain and undecorated metal . The See also:adaptation of imperial gold coins to the purposes of the jeweller is also not uncommon .
Figs
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78-82 (Plate II.) Late Roman imperial jewelry, in the British Museum
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Large pendant ear-ring, set with stones and pearls
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From See also:Tunis, 4th century
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Pierced-work pendant, set with a See also:coin of the See also:emperor See also: Its style is in part the classical tradition, debased and modified; in part it is a singularly rude and vigorous form of barbaric art . Its See also:chief characteristics See also:area See also:free use of strongly conventionalized See also:animal forms, such as great See also:bird-shaped fibulae, and an ornamentation consisting of pierced gold work, combined with a free use of stones cut to special shapes, and inlaid either cloisonne-See also:fashion or in a perforated gold plate . This part of the hoard has its affinities in objects found over a wide field from See also:Siberia to See also:Spain . Its rudest and most naturalistic forms occur in the See also:East in uncouth objects from Siberian tombs, whose lineage however has been traced to See also:Persepolis, Assyria and See also:Egypt . In its later and more refined forms the style is known by the name, now somewhat out of favour (except as applied to a limited number of finds), of Merovingian . The so-called Merovingian jewelry of the 5th century, and the Anglo-Saxon of a later date, have as their distinctive feature thin plates of gold, decorated with thin slabs of See also:garnet, set in walls of gold soldered vertically like the lines of cloisonne enamel, with the addition of very decorative details of filigree work, beading and twisted gold . The typical group are the contents of the tomb of King Childeric (A.D . 481) now in the Bibliotheque Nationale at See also:Paris . In Figs . 22 and 23 we have examples of Anglo-Saxon fibulae, the first being decorated with a See also:species of cloisonne, in which garnets are inserted, while the other is in hammered work in relief . A pendant (fig . 24) is also set with garnets . The buckles (figs . 25, 26, 27) are remarkably charac We turn now to the See also:Celtic group of jewelled ornaments, which has an equally long and See also:independent See also:line of descent . The characteristic Celtic ornaments are of hammered work with details in repousse, having fillings-in of vitreous paste, coloured enamels, See also:amber, and in the later examples See also:rock crystal with a smooth rounded surface cut en cabochon . The 59-60 71 72 74 73, 75 78 79 8o 81 82 whole group is a special development within the British Isles of the art of the See also:mid-See also:European Early See also:Iron See also:age, which in its turn had been considerably influenced by early Mediterranean culture . In its early stages its special marks are combinations of curves, with See also:peculiar central thickenings which give a quasi-naturalistic effect; a skilful use of inlaid enamels, and the chased line . After the introduction of See also:Christianity, a continuous tradition combined the old See also:system with the interlaced winding scrolls and other new forms of decoration, and so led up to the extreme complexity of early Irish See also:illumination and metal work . A remarkable group of gold ornaments of the pre-See also:Christian See also:time (probably of the 1st century) was discovered about 1896, in the See also:north-See also:west of See also:Ireland, and acquired by the British Museum . It was subsequently claimed by the See also:Crown as treasure trove, and after litigation was transferred to See also:Dublin (see Archaeologia, lv., pl . 22) . Figs . 29 and 3o are illustrations of two brooches of the latest period in this class of work . The first is 13th century; the latter is probably 12th century, and is set with paste, amber and blue .
Rings are the chief specimens now seen of See also:medieval jewelry from the loth to the 13th century
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They are generally massive and simple
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Through the 16th century a variety of changes arose; in the traditions and designs of the cinquecento we have plenty of evidence that the workmen used their own designs, and the results culminated in the triumphs of See also:Albert Darer, Benvenuto See also:Cellini and Hans See also:Holbein
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The goldsmiths of the
See also:Italian republics must have produced See also:works of surpassing excellence in workmanship, and reaching the highest point in design as applied to handicrafts of any kind
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The use of enamels, precious stones, See also:niello work and See also:engraving, in combination with skilful execution of the human figure and animal See also:life, produced effects which modern art in this direction is not likely to approach, still less to rival
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In fig
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31 illustrations are given of various characteristic specimens of the See also:Renaissance and later forms of jewelry
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A crystal cross set in enamelled gold (a) is See also:German work of the 16th century
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The pendant reliquary (b), enamelled and jewelled, is of 16th century Italian work, and so probably is the jewel (c) of gold set with diamonds and rubies
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The See also:Darnley or See also:Lennox jewel (d), now in the See also:possession of the king, was made about 1576–1577 for See also:Lady See also:Margaret
See also:Douglas, countess of Lennox, the See also:mother of See also: |