Collector Antiquities: Minoan Jewelry and Ancient Greek Jewelry

Minoan craftsmen, working in Troy and in Crete, at distant opposite ends of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and Aegean region, fashioned earrings, bracelets, and necklaces of a fairly standard type that were widely produced from about 2500 BC to about 500 BC, the beginning of the Classical period of Greek art.

Typical items of Minoan jewellery consisted of thin coils and chains of linked and plaited gold wire and thin gold foil fashioned into petals and rosettes.

Stamping and enamelling were common techniques used in the manufacture of Minoan jewellery as was gold granulation and filigree. Inlaid stones, however , were rare in jewellery of this time.

Motifs typical of Minoan jewellery are spirals and naturalistic patterns based on starfish, octopus, cuttlefish and butterflies.

Jewellery found at Mycenae and in Crete, and now in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, includes a great number of small gold discs, perforated so that they could be attached to clothing, and gold diadems made of long oval plates covered with repoussé rosettes.

The collapse of the Mycenaean world was followed in Europe by the Geometric and Orientalizing periods ( 1100 BC -800 BC), which are also known as the Dark Ages. Jewellery making, like the other arts, showed little of the imaginative breadth of the previous several centuries, but innovation and skill came to the fore again shortly after 800 BC when jewellery making flourished with vibrancy and delicacy in the Aegean islands and then also on mainland Greece.

Ancient Greek Jewellery

Greek jewellery, Etruscan jewellery and other Italian jewellery made in the time between about 850 BC and about 500 BC (called the Archaic period, was inspired and greatly influenced by Egyptian and Assyrian examples brought by Phoenician merchants who were criss-crossing the Mediterranean Sea by this time. The techniques remained basically the same as the earlier Egyptian and Assyrian styles though embossed or stamped plates of gold and silver became a predominant basic element. Granulation in gold continued and was developed in Etruria to a remarkable degree of delicate refinement.

In the Classical Greek period , 5th and 4th centuries BC (480 BC – 338 BC) , granulation went out of fashion. Enamelling was re-introduced and filigree became predominant. Classic Greek jewellery was delicate and very refined.

In the Classical period of ancient Greek jewellery manufacture there was little jewellery actually made in Greece itself but so splendid is its quality and technical prowess that it is considered to be miniature sculpting, and a fine expression of the breadth of the artistic creations of this `Golden Age'. Flowers and tassels were a common motif for gold chain necklaces, and hoop earrings held delicate filigree discs and rosettes. Such pieces are available to the modern day collector.

Greek Jewellery : Hellenistic Period

During the Hellenistic Age (330-27 BC), after the conquests of Alexander the Great, rather opulent gold pieces with precious and semi-precious stones became popular. Greek jewellery design and manufacture was influenced by the "new" of Oriental influences of the conquered lands as well as a revival of interest in Egyptian themes and styles.

Greek jewellery of the Hellenistic Age saw small gold workings fashioned into pendant vases, little delicate winged victories, cupids, and doves becoming common motifs. At the same time, an important innovation into Greek jewellery manufacture was the introduction of quite large coloured stones, especially garnets, as a centre-piece of designs. This style was copied by the Romans, who greatly increased the variety of stones and began to set them in rows bordered with pearls.

The Hellenistic Age also saw the introduction of new styles and decorative themes into Greek jewellery. Polychrome, achieved by using semi-precious and precious stones, rock crystal , chalcedony, amethyst, cornelian, and garnet, and for the less expensive pieces, glass paste beads, were used to vibrant effect.

New motifs appeared in Greek jewellery of the period - and later carried over into Roman times - such as the knot of Herakles, and, taken from Egypt, the crown of Isis which is especially common on earrings from the second century BC.

Western Asia provided the inspiration for the crescent, commonly found in Greek jewellery of this period, and frequently employed as a necklace pendant. However, a truly Greek motif found in Greek jewellery of the period, and widely used, was Eros.

Another important type of earring appearing around 330 BC and carried on into early Roman times was the plain hoop with a finial in the form of animal heads, maenads, the full figure of Eros and other motifs.

Within Greek jewellery of the period pendant earrings were the commonest type - with pendants containing Eros, Nike, a dove, or amphora designs. The pendants were regularly further enhanced with colourful stones or enamelling, and often suspended from a gold rosette topped by the Isis crown.

Ancient Greek necklaces of this time were typically broad strap chains from which hang fruits or calyxes, or were round chains with animal-head or dolphin terminals.

Ancient Greek rings have bezels in many different shapes, some set with seal stones or ordinary stones.

Typical Greek jewellery contained several types of bracelet. Widely worn were the snake-shape type bracelet and those with cut-out vine leaves and inlaid stones.

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(alternative spelling: Minoan jewelry, Ancient Greek jewelry)