Near East / Holy Land, Byzantine Empire, ca. 9th to early 13th century CE. A pair of ornate, heavy, 22K gold earrings, teardrop-shaped, with each depicting a sun-like anthropomorphic face as its central motif. The faces are incredibly detailed, made from gold filigree, with further gold filigree openwork geometric motifs around them. Each has a heavy hook for suspension and a thin loop attached to their flat back face. Size of each: 2" H (5.1 cm); 11.4 grams

During the 7th to 9th centuries, the Byzantine Empire was in a state of economic and social crisis, repeatedly rocked by invasions, plagues, famines, and other disasters - a time period often called "The Dark Ages." Emerging from that period, it seems that the people of the Byzantine Empire wished to flaunt their wealth and embellish themselves with beautiful things. Byzantine graves from this period contain a great deal of beautiful items like these earrings. These would have been a treasured item for a person living in this optimistic, dynamic time.

Provenance: ex private Dallas, Texas, USA collection

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#129470

Small areas of wear commensurate with age, especially to the delicate faces as shown. An expert jeweler could easily make these wearable.