Necklace

Necklace

Archaeology

AN00015552_001_l. Necklace strung with an alternating sequence of irregular gold and cabochon garnet pendants, gold 'bullae' and biconical gold wire spacer beads. At the centre, flanked by small biconical beads, hangs an equal-armed cross; at either end of the string is a cylindrical gold filigree bead. The cross is curiously constructed of two tubes of heavy gold sheet, cut away where they overlap and lidded at each end. At its centre is a poorly-fashioned filigree setting containing a small cabochon garnet. The rivet securing the setting holds the cross loosely together. Both the bullae and the pendants fall into two groups. Five bullae are decorated with an edging of finely-made filigree and the ribbed suspension loop is trimmed to a semicircle at the back. The remaining bullae are undecorated and the ends of their suspension loops are cut to a point. The cabochon droplets have two distinct styles of suspension loops: five are simple gold tubes decorated in beaded filigree with geometric or heart-shaped motifs and have a distinctive v-shaped motif on the back. The remaining four have unexceptional ribbed suspension loops. All these images are © Trustees of the British Museum. These free low-resolution images are covered also under the British Museum's Terms and Conditions (http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_this_site/terms_of_use/free_image_service.aspx). The full image collection is available at: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database.aspx where you can also order high resolution copies.

British Museum

7th Century