AN UNUSUAL BYZANTINE GOLD & GARNET & AQUAMARINE CROSS, CIRCA 7TH-9TH CENTURY A.D.

拍品描述

AN UNUSUAL BYZANTINE GOLD & GARNET & AQUAMARINE CROSS, CIRCA 7TH-9TH CENTURY A.D. Formed in gold and set with garnet and aquamarine beads, this Byzantine cross pendant has an open, wirework structure of unusual delicacy. The outline is composed of four rounded lobes arranged around a central setting, creating a cross that is both clearly devotional and highly ornamental. Its light construction, warm gold surface, and contrasting red and blue stones give the piece a lively and carefully balanced appearance. The design is centred on a circular blue aquamarine cabochon, set within a plain gold collar. Around it are arranged rounded garnet beads of deep red colour and ribbed aquamarine beads of bright blue tone, threaded onto fine gold wires. The arms of the cross are formed from looped gold strips, their open contours allowing the stones to stand prominently within the design. Small coils of gold wire at the terminals and junctions add texture and rhythm, while the ribbed suspension loop above suggests the pendant was intended to be worn on a chain or cord. As a personal devotional pendant, the cross would have been worn close to the body as a visible expression of Christian faith. In the Byzantine world, such objects served both as ornaments and as protective signs. The use of coloured stones was not merely decorative: the rich red of the garnets and the clear blue of the aquamarines would have heightened the symbolic and visual force of the pendant, drawing attention to the central form of the cross. By the 7th to 9th century A.D., Byzantine jewellery combined inherited Roman goldsmithing traditions with a strongly Christian visual language. This example reflects that development through its use of precious metal, coloured stones, and a simplified but immediately recognisable sacred form. Its wirework construction gives the cross a sense of openness and movement, distinguishing it from more solid cast or sheet-gold examples of the period. The present cross comes from a Private British Collection, acquired in the late 1990s, and thence by descent. With its distinctive construction and strong contrast of gold, garnet, and aquamarine, it is an unusual and appealing example of Byzantine devotional jewellery. Length: 4.5 cm Width: 3.8 cm Weight: 7 g Private British Collection, acquired in the late 1990's Thence by descent

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