Description

This bracelet was created by the "lost-wax" (cire-perdue) technique—first modeled in wax, next covered with clay, then heated to melt or "lose" the wax, which was replaced by molten brass. Several such anklets were attached at the time of a woman's marriage and only removed after her death. Their weight and decorative richness expressed her husband's wealth and prestige as well as her own favored status, for such a woman was expected to live a life of some leisure while other wives and retainers did farming and domestic chores. The spheres around the perimeter—bells—added beautiful sounds to an impressive sight.