Each bracelet comprises a cylindrical loop around which two gold wires, one plain and one granulated, are tightly wound. The tips of the bracelet end in griffin-lion heads. The features of the wild cats are rendered in relief with details such as the hair of the animals engraved. Their ears, teeth and tongues are applied. Gold sheet decorated with granulated wire, spiralling tendrils and s-shaped spirals in wire technique conceal the join between the heads and the loop of the bracelet. Triangular cut-out tongues on the lower part complete the decoration of the cylinders of gold sheet.
Read moreThese skillfully executed examples of Greek gold work belong to a category of jewelery of eastern origin with symmetrical figures of animals at the ends. They first make their appearance in the 7th century BC The ends are usually the heads of snakes, lions, rams, wolves or horses. Examples of this category increase during the 4th century BC, when they are decorated with new figures of Anatolian origin, such as antelopes, sphinxes, griffin-lions. They are very popular throughout the Hellenistic period. As a theme the griffin-lions are connected with the god Dionysos and give the wearer happiness and fertility. The archaic bracelets of this type were simpler: plain tubular loops with animal heads at the ends. With the passage of centuries, the jewelery became more complicated,
N. Saraga
