Gold and pearl earring

Two gold earrings sit side by side on a pale gray ground. Each has a hook at the top, a small rounded knob, and a horizontal bar from which a thin wire holds a single pearl that hangs below. The gold is worked with simple, fine forms typical of ancient jewelry.

Look closer: The pearls hang from thin wires attached to the bars, and the right earring's pearl is slightly lower than the left.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1st century CE

Medium

Gold, pearl

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

1693 × 1288 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1920