Greek filigree gold earrings. A matching pair of gold earrings, each consisting of a convex plaque with filigree rosette and beaded wire detailing, granulation to the junction with the hoop, fitted to top with a secure modern hook fitting, approximately 1.80cm in length. Tested yellow gold, approximately 8.93 grams in weight, circa 5th-3rd Century BC.

These earrings have been adapted for modern use in a way which does not affect their historical integrity, please contact us for further information.

Complete matching earrings such as these are a rare survival from the ancient world. These earrings are a testament to the high level of skill of the craftsmen of the time and are in museum quality condition commensurate with their age.

These earrings showcase rosette imagery, and an incredibly high level of craftsmanship. For a comparable piece, showing the same rosette motifs, please see the British History Museum archives, artifact 1877,0910.18.

The goldsmiths of The Ancient World, inspired by art, science and detail, made the majority of jewellery with two basic elements, sheet metal and wire. They would heat the metal and use hammers, files and chisels to handcraft their creations. Earrings were mostly made with these fine gold sheets, and they would use filigree, twists and granules as decoration. Repoussé features heavily in Ancient earrings, an embossing technique involving hammering the sheet metal to create a repeating textured pattern of differing reliefs.

Most of the decorative wirework was made from sheet metal, hammered and rolled into thin strips between two plates. The wire would then have been stretched to become finer still. For ornamental work, two wires would be wound together and twisted to form a broader more interesting design. Filigree was created with these wires, soldered onto the sheet metal into patterns of spirals and circles. Granulation, the crafting of fine spherical gold grains was a highly skilled technique, and we are still not certain today on how it was created.

The techniques outlined above often made the earrings seem more massive than they actually were, meaning they are remarkably comfortable and light to wear. Ancient earrings are surprisingly wearable and are incredible survivors of two thousand years of history.