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Lot Essay
This highly important pair of Greek gold rosette ornaments are unique in design and exceptional in being so finely preserved and retaining both their back attachment rosette studs. The ornaments are of the highest quality, evidently produced by a master goldsmith in the 4th Century B.C.
Gold ornaments of this type are known principally from sites in Asia Minor and Cyprus, but also occur elsewhere in areas influenced by Greek fashion, taste and culture including South Italy, Thrace, Pontus and Egypt.
For ornaments of a similar design, cf. the 4th Century B.C. Kyme treasure in the British Museum, published in D. Williams and J. Ogden, Greek Gold, Jewellery of the Classical World, British Museum, London, 1994, p. 98, nos. 51-52; no. 51 is a single gold ornament with back stud, no. 52 is a pair with only one back stud remaining. Both these examples have similar circular pan-shaped discs unlike the sculptural rosettes in the above instance. Also, cf. B. Deppert-Lippitz, Griechischer Goldschmuck, Mainz am Rhein, 1985, p. 186, pl. 132 for a pair of studs from South Italy, and p. 187, pl. 133 for a pair of studs in the Cyprus Museum, Nicosia, with circular discs and central rosettes. A set of gold jewellery from a 4th Century B.C. Thracian treasure now in the Archaeological Museum, Sofia, contains a large rosette-shaped tiered ornament with similarly pointed petals, cf. exhibition catalogue, Thracian Treasures from Bulgaria, British Museum, London, 1976, p. 61, no. 265.
Gold ornaments of this type are known principally from sites in Asia Minor and Cyprus, but also occur elsewhere in areas influenced by Greek fashion, taste and culture including South Italy, Thrace, Pontus and Egypt.
For ornaments of a similar design, cf. the 4th Century B.C. Kyme treasure in the British Museum, published in D. Williams and J. Ogden, Greek Gold, Jewellery of the Classical World, British Museum, London, 1994, p. 98, nos. 51-52; no. 51 is a single gold ornament with back stud, no. 52 is a pair with only one back stud remaining. Both these examples have similar circular pan-shaped discs unlike the sculptural rosettes in the above instance. Also, cf. B. Deppert-Lippitz, Griechischer Goldschmuck, Mainz am Rhein, 1985, p. 186, pl. 132 for a pair of studs from South Italy, and p. 187, pl. 133 for a pair of studs in the Cyprus Museum, Nicosia, with circular discs and central rosettes. A set of gold jewellery from a 4th Century B.C. Thracian treasure now in the Archaeological Museum, Sofia, contains a large rosette-shaped tiered ornament with similarly pointed petals, cf. exhibition catalogue, Thracian Treasures from Bulgaria, British Museum, London, 1976, p. 61, no. 265.