These elaborately decorated bracelets have richly jeweled exteriors and finely detailed opus interrasile patterns on their interiors. The luminous beauty of pearls was highly prized in the Byzantine world.
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Dimensions:Overall: 1 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (3.8 x 8.2 cm) strap: 7/8 x 7 11/16 in. (2.3 x 19.5 cm) bezel: 1 5/16 in. (3.4 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Gold
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Object Number:17.190.1671
Said to have been found near Assiut or Antinoe, near Nile (Upper Egypt); [ Maurice Nahman, Cairo (sold 1912)]; J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (1912–1913)
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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition," March 14–July 8, 2012.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Jewelry: The Body Transformed," November 12, 2018–February 24, 2019.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Africa & Byzantium," November 13, 2023–March 3, 2024.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Africa & Byzantium," April 14–July 21, 2024.
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Brown, Katharine R. Migration Art, A.D. 300-800. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995. pp.16, 49–51, fig. 12.
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Dospěl Williams, Elizabeth. "Into the Hands of a Well-Known Antiquary of Cairo: The Assiut Treasure and the Making of an Archaeological Hoard." West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture 21, no. 2 (2014). fig. 5, pp. 257, 259.
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Hope, Deborah. "Pearls Found in Ancient Greek and Roman Contexts in the Mediterranean." Mediterranean Archaeology 32/33 (2019/2020). pp. 46, 80, pl. 10, fig. 5.
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