The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 24, 2025

Crescent-Shaped Earring

1000–1100
gold filigree with cloisonné enamel
Average: 2.3 x 2.6 cm (7/8 x 1 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1946.493
Location: 104 Late Antiquity

Did You Know?

Small gold cells were created to hold enamel paste of different colors; when fired, they harden and appear jewel-like.

Description

The Byzantine lady who wore this earring may also have woven similar ornaments into her hair. Those who could afford it adorned not only their body but also their clothing with glittering jewels and shimmering gold.
  • -1946
    (Mrs. Paul Mallon, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art).
    1946-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore, Md.), and Dorothy Eugenia Miner. Early Christian and Byzantine Art, An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, April 25-June 22 [1947]. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1947. cat. no. 488
    Milliken, William. "Byzantine Jewelry and Associated Pieces." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 34, no. 7 (September 1947): 167-175.

    Published as 1715.46 Reproduced: p. 174; Mentioned: p. 175 www.jstor.org
  • Early Christian and Byzantine Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, MD (April 24-June 24, 1947).
  • {{cite web|title=Crescent-Shaped Earring|url=false|author=|year=1000–1100|access-date=24 June 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1946.493