DESCRIPTION: Intact. A matching pair of Roman gold earrings, each consisting of a plain hoop fronted by a shield, supporting a group of five spheres with granulation. The hoops correspond to Ruseva-Slokoska's Type I, Variant 4, with the wire spirally twisted on the lower half. The decorative round shields have a border of spirally twisted wire and a central pyramidal mound of 4 medium sized gold granules. The hoops are attached to swivel mounts supporting hour-glass shaped tops of the earring pendants. The pendants themselves consist of inverted pyramids of three contiguous hollow spheres with two more spheres beneath, the final sphere with a pyramidal group of six large granules. A sparse network of tiny granulation, detached in a few places, runs over the surface of the large spheres. The gold ear hooks from which the hoops are suspended are modern and detachable.

PROVENANCE: Formerly in a private New York family collection, acquired in Jerusalem in the 1960-70s.

PUBLISHED: Christies auction catalogue, Ancient Jewelry, 9 December, 2008, New York.

COMPARISONS: