Roman 20K+ Gold Pendant on Gold Chain, ex-Christie's

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Exceptional Day 1: Antiquities & Asian Art

By Artemis Gallery

Sep 26, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-09-26 10:00:00 2019-09-26 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Day 1: Antiquities & Asian Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-day-1-antiquities-asian-art-4437
Day 1 of an important 2-day auction featuring exceptional, museum-worthy examples of Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Viking, Russian, Near Eastern, as well as Asian Art from China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma and India. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Late Roman, Imperial Period, 3rd century CE. An elegant Roman gold necklace comprised of substantial chain and a beautiful 20K+ gold domed pendant with a border that is comprised of a central "woven" register flanked by "beaded" bands on either side. The women of the Roman Empire donned a wide assortment of jewelry. We know this to be true, because elite Roman women were laid to rest in sarcophagi painted with encaustic funerary portraits that depicted the deceased as youthful beauties dressed in refined clothing and bejeweled in elaborate necklaces and earrings. In addition, the sculpted stone portraits of the caravan city of Palmyra in Syria show the deceased donning jewelry, no doubt indicating their wealth and high social status for all eternity. Size: chain is 15" L (38.1 cm); pendant is .875" in diameter (2.2 cm). Weight: 25.2 grams.
  
  While it is possible that this pendant was simply intended to be decorative and abstract in nature, it is also possible that it was intended to represent an actual architectural dome, an innovation made possible by the Roman's invention of concrete, or a celestial orb such as the sun or the moon. The Romans were excellent engineers and monumental domes created for edifices like the famous Pantheon began to eclipse traditional post and lintel architecture by the 1st century BCE in ancient Rome. As for the Romans' worship of celestial bodies such as the sun and the moon, much can be said. The Roman god Sol (Greek Helios) was believed to ride a golden chariot that carried the sun across the skies every day from East to West. In addition to appearing on beautiful painted vases riding his golden chariot in the background of imagery narrating the Hercules (Herakles) story, gracing the faces of coins of Rhodes - his patron city, as well as the east pediment of the Parthenon where he emerges from the ocean in his chariot, Helios is perhaps most famously the subject of the Colossus of Rhodes, a monumental bronze statue regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Luna (Selene to the Greeks), goddess of the moon, also drove her steeds across the heavens.
  
  For more information about Roman gold jewelry read: Oliver, Jr., Andrew. "Greek, Roman, and Etruscan Jewelry" The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, May 1966, pp. 269-284. (https://www.metmuseum.org/pubs/bulletins/1/pdf/3258219.pdf.bannered.pdf) and Alexander, Christine. 1928. Jewelry: The Art of the Goldsmith in Classical Times as Illustrated in the Museum Collection. p. 11, fig. 12, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  
  Provenance: private Connecticut, USA collection; ex-Christie's, Online "Ancient Jewelry: Wearable Art" auction (sale 16396, November 29 - December 6, 2018, lot 16); ex-private American collection, acquired in 2010; ex-private North American collection, acquired in 1986; ex-Numismatic Art & Ancient Coins, Zurich, Switzerland, acquired in 1985 on the New York art market; ex-Burton Y. Berry (1901-1985) collection, Zurich, Switzerland
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #149786

  Condition

  Minor indentations to the domed boss. Otherwise superb. Chain links are intact and excellent. All elements are ancient. Gold has developed a beautiful warm patina.
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