Etruscan jewelry
Encyclopedia
This article refers to the jewelry of the Etruscan civilization
and its differences in various eras.
Era, there was very little jewelry which has remained for discovery in modern times. The Villanovan Etruscans seem to have had left few items of luxury and thus appear modest. Yet Villanovan jewelry proves and confirms that in Etruria
great effort was placed in the production of decorative arts. Jewelry was a status symbol and represented, like in present times, wealth and prosperity.
They used the same patterns as on their pottery. Swastika
s, zigzags and triangles can be observed on their jewellery.
Gold jewelry started spreading rapidly during the Orientalizing era. It allowed a great deal more stylization and showed splendid workmanship. Geometric design was such a regular motif that archaeologists refer to this motif as the “Orientalizing geometric”.
The Orientalizing period was especially flourishing for Etruscan gold jewelry due to the very affluent trading system which had evolved during this time. The Etruscans did not invent their decorative techniques. Indeed, the Mediterranean influences had brought such techniques as granulation
. Syro-Phoenician jewelers settled in southern Etruria and taught local apprentices the art of granulation and filigree
.
These techniques first developed in the South of Etruria. It consisted of working designs onto a surface with tiny granules of gold. Care had to be taken not to melt the little granules onto the surface but instead, to solder them on with a tiny heated point. The various omissions and imperfections, made on purpose, gave the piece of jewelry the artistic character. Soldering was done using (most likely) arseniates and reducing the solder to an impalpable dust.
The Syro-Phoenicians
brought in other techniques of workmanship. Many jewelers were influenced by their recurrent themes and symbols. Sacred emblems like the solar disc and the half moon
were incorporated in the Etruscans’ fast-growing repertoire. Later Etruscans loosened up their very stern geometric standards and added in their designs floral and figurative elements of oriental inspiration. The finest jewellery was still mainly centered and focused in the southern city-states such as; Cerveteri
, Tarquinia
and Vetulonia
.
Gorgons, pomegranates, acorns, lotus flowers and palms were a clear indicator of Greek influence in Etruscan jewelry. The modelling of heads, which was a typical practice from the Greek severe period, was a technique that spread throughout the Etruscan territory. An even clearer evidence of new influences is the shape introduced in the Orientalising era: The Bullae. A pear shaped vessel used to hold perfume. Its surface was usually decorated with repoussé and engraved symbolic figures.
Yet another leitmotiv in Etruscan Jewellery is the Egyptian Scarab. In ancient Egyptian cultures it symbolized luck. It increased in Vulci and Tarquinia from the last decades of the 6th century BC.
In the northern city-states however, jewelry was more sober and refined pieces from Vetrulonia, for example, are decorated with minute particles known as pulviscolo (gold dust).
Much of the jewelry found was not worn by Etruscans, but were made to accompany them in the after world. Most, if not all, techniques of Etruscan goldsmiths were not invented by them as they are dated to the third millennium BC.
These practices came to them from the (at the time) distant Middle East, along with imported objects who inspired them to widen their range of jewelry. The Etruscans perfected these techniques, and in turn lead them to the very stylized jewelry of the seventh and sixth centuries. Often these pieces are considered the peak of their abilities.
Some etruscologists believe that the most complete form of acquired art was that of the Etruscan jewelers. Their technical accomplishments are astonishing. From the beginning, gold workers mastered the most sophisticated of techniques. They count amongst their acquired skills: hammering relief decoration otherwise known as repoussé, filigree
and granulation
. All of these methods were done using simple or basic tools.
Repoussé literally translated means to push back in French. The technique consists of hammering the design behind the ornament with the relief on the other style.
Granulation was the art of decorating smooth surfaces of gold jewelry with patterns composed of tiny granules of gold. It was invented in Mesopotamia
in the third millennium BC and was subsequently introduced to Anatolia
, Syria
, Egypt
, Cyprus
and Mycenaean Greece. The collapse of the Bronze Age civilization brought with it the disappearance of such sophisticated arts in Greece, but they survived in the Near East and from there they were reintroduced in Greece in the ninth century and transferred to Italy during the second half of the eight century.
Filigree is a decorative open work made from thin twisted wire mainly in silver and gold but also in other type of metals.
The combination of metals was a basic technique. Essentially, there is no such thing as 24 carat gold jewelry. Massive gold is the most malleable metal. It is almost like wax. In order to have jewelry that can pass the test of time and gravity, the Etruscans had to combine their gold with other metals.
The most commonly used metal is copper in these cases. Most Etruscan jewelry is 18 karat gold but it varies - going as low as 15 karat. While pure gold is 24 karat, 18 and 15 karat gold benefit from their alloys. 18 karat gold is much more durable and harder than 24, and 15 karat is so much more durable and 'hard' than 18 karat. Some jewelry of the Regolini-Galassi tomb was too; thin, delicate and big to have been worn while more robust and less poutre gold ornamentation was solid enough to have been worn in life.
Etruscans would also mold their gold and jewels into stone-carved molds.
Among the jewelry found in tombs of the Archaic period were large disc earrings. The techniques here are difficult to define but they actually used granulation in concentric patterns. They also used filigree and glass paste. This was probably a trend of the time as they have been found in several tombs. The disc earring is originally a Lydian
type of jewellery and became a fashionable trend during the archaic period with the strong East Greek influence spreading in the second half of the sixth century BCE.
Valise-type earrings were mostly made in Vulci and were very widespread. The heavy pendants started becoming fashionable along with the Middle Eastern floral elements and all the other types of influence the Etruscans received from elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
The fibulae became an item closer to jewelry in the archaic period. During the Villanovan era they were mainly bronze. Progressively though they turned into a subject of ornament.
Unfortunately the classical era was a period of crisis for the Etruscans. During the 5th century, Etruscan jewelry suffers a regression. Such techniques as filigree and granulation gradually disappeared. Others, like repoussé are used to decorate thin funerary bands, necklaces and lockets (or bulla
e). During this period, a different kind of earring comes into fashion: the grape cluster shaped earring. These kinds of earrings would cover the whole ear and sometimes hung down to the neck.
During the archaic period, "bigger was better". Large hanging earrings, long necklaces and heavy pendants or bullae were in style and worn by both men and woman alike. Woman, by modern standards started looking like "Christmas tree
s" as the fashion of the time was really large brooding figures. Women were excessively adorned and wore large diadems
, bracelets and circlets, hair spirals, heavy earrings in the shape of grape clusters, large heavy pendant
s (also worn by men and children).
These were the fashion all throughout the fifth and fourth centuries. Necklaces were paired up. They would wear big necklaces with assorted beads, then another one with a big hanging pendant. Earrings with a long oval pendant and a smaller one hanging below were also very well received in the Etruscan community. In the early third century, bead necklaces and bullae remain popular as do torque
s, which were rings of colour hair (of an animal) or feathers around the neck. In the late classical era body jewelry became more and more popular as the fashions tended towards a progressive state of undress. The body jewelry was the adornment of the body and was paired with other artifacts such as shoes, holding mirrors, etc.
Jewelry becomes omnipresent during the Hellenistic period. It becomes unisex and is worn by people whether they are naked or dressed. In images, women were often represented with only slippers and a torque or necklace. The heavy necklaces of the classical era are now replaced by strands of beads and torques.
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
and its differences in various eras.
Villanovan Era
During the VillanovanVillanovan culture
The Villanovan culture was the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy, abruptly following the Bronze Age Terramare culture and giving way in the 7th century BC to an increasingly orientalizing culture influenced by Greek traders, which was followed without a severe break by the...
Era, there was very little jewelry which has remained for discovery in modern times. The Villanovan Etruscans seem to have had left few items of luxury and thus appear modest. Yet Villanovan jewelry proves and confirms that in Etruria
Etruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
great effort was placed in the production of decorative arts. Jewelry was a status symbol and represented, like in present times, wealth and prosperity.
They used the same patterns as on their pottery. Swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
s, zigzags and triangles can be observed on their jewellery.
Orientalizing Era
Gold jewelry started spreading rapidly during the Orientalizing era. It allowed a great deal more stylization and showed splendid workmanship. Geometric design was such a regular motif that archaeologists refer to this motif as the “Orientalizing geometric”.
The Orientalizing period was especially flourishing for Etruscan gold jewelry due to the very affluent trading system which had evolved during this time. The Etruscans did not invent their decorative techniques. Indeed, the Mediterranean influences had brought such techniques as granulation
Granulation
Granulation can refer to:*Granulation is the act or process of forming or crystallizing into grains*Granulation tissue, a product of healing in major wounds;*Granular synthesis, a sound synthesis method;...
. Syro-Phoenician jewelers settled in southern Etruria and taught local apprentices the art of granulation and filigree
Filigree
Filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork made with twisted threads usually of gold and silver or stitching of the same curving motifs. It often suggests lace, and in recent centuries remains popular in Indian and other Asian metalwork, and French from 1660 to the late 19th century...
.
These techniques first developed in the South of Etruria. It consisted of working designs onto a surface with tiny granules of gold. Care had to be taken not to melt the little granules onto the surface but instead, to solder them on with a tiny heated point. The various omissions and imperfections, made on purpose, gave the piece of jewelry the artistic character. Soldering was done using (most likely) arseniates and reducing the solder to an impalpable dust.
The Syro-Phoenicians
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
brought in other techniques of workmanship. Many jewelers were influenced by their recurrent themes and symbols. Sacred emblems like the solar disc and the half moon
Half Moon
Half Moon is a lunar phase coinciding with neap tides, which are often easier for seafarers than spring tides. This would apply to the first quarter and last quarter moon; in both cases, half of the moon's disk is lit...
were incorporated in the Etruscans’ fast-growing repertoire. Later Etruscans loosened up their very stern geometric standards and added in their designs floral and figurative elements of oriental inspiration. The finest jewellery was still mainly centered and focused in the southern city-states such as; Cerveteri
Cerveteri
Cerveteri is a town and comune of the northern Lazio, in the province of Rome. Originally known as Caere , it is famous for a number of Etruscan necropolis that include some of the best Etruscan tombs anywhere....
, Tarquinia
Tarquinia
Tarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy.- History :Tarquinii is said to have been already a flourishing city when Demaratus of Corinth brought in Greek workmen...
and Vetulonia
Vetulonia
Vetulonia, formerly called Vetulonium , was an ancient town of Etruria, Italy, the site of which is probably occupied by the modern village of Vetulonia, which up to 1887 bore the name of Colonnata and Colonna di Buriano: the site is currently a frazione of the comune of Castiglione della Pescaia,...
.
Gorgons, pomegranates, acorns, lotus flowers and palms were a clear indicator of Greek influence in Etruscan jewelry. The modelling of heads, which was a typical practice from the Greek severe period, was a technique that spread throughout the Etruscan territory. An even clearer evidence of new influences is the shape introduced in the Orientalising era: The Bullae. A pear shaped vessel used to hold perfume. Its surface was usually decorated with repoussé and engraved symbolic figures.
Yet another leitmotiv in Etruscan Jewellery is the Egyptian Scarab. In ancient Egyptian cultures it symbolized luck. It increased in Vulci and Tarquinia from the last decades of the 6th century BC.
In the northern city-states however, jewelry was more sober and refined pieces from Vetrulonia, for example, are decorated with minute particles known as pulviscolo (gold dust).
Much of the jewelry found was not worn by Etruscans, but were made to accompany them in the after world. Most, if not all, techniques of Etruscan goldsmiths were not invented by them as they are dated to the third millennium BC.
These practices came to them from the (at the time) distant Middle East, along with imported objects who inspired them to widen their range of jewelry. The Etruscans perfected these techniques, and in turn lead them to the very stylized jewelry of the seventh and sixth centuries. Often these pieces are considered the peak of their abilities.
Some etruscologists believe that the most complete form of acquired art was that of the Etruscan jewelers. Their technical accomplishments are astonishing. From the beginning, gold workers mastered the most sophisticated of techniques. They count amongst their acquired skills: hammering relief decoration otherwise known as repoussé, filigree
Filigree
Filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork made with twisted threads usually of gold and silver or stitching of the same curving motifs. It often suggests lace, and in recent centuries remains popular in Indian and other Asian metalwork, and French from 1660 to the late 19th century...
and granulation
Granulation
Granulation can refer to:*Granulation is the act or process of forming or crystallizing into grains*Granulation tissue, a product of healing in major wounds;*Granular synthesis, a sound synthesis method;...
. All of these methods were done using simple or basic tools.
Repoussé literally translated means to push back in French. The technique consists of hammering the design behind the ornament with the relief on the other style.
Granulation was the art of decorating smooth surfaces of gold jewelry with patterns composed of tiny granules of gold. It was invented in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
in the third millennium BC and was subsequently introduced to Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
and Mycenaean Greece. The collapse of the Bronze Age civilization brought with it the disappearance of such sophisticated arts in Greece, but they survived in the Near East and from there they were reintroduced in Greece in the ninth century and transferred to Italy during the second half of the eight century.
Filigree is a decorative open work made from thin twisted wire mainly in silver and gold but also in other type of metals.
The combination of metals was a basic technique. Essentially, there is no such thing as 24 carat gold jewelry. Massive gold is the most malleable metal. It is almost like wax. In order to have jewelry that can pass the test of time and gravity, the Etruscans had to combine their gold with other metals.
The most commonly used metal is copper in these cases. Most Etruscan jewelry is 18 karat gold but it varies - going as low as 15 karat. While pure gold is 24 karat, 18 and 15 karat gold benefit from their alloys. 18 karat gold is much more durable and harder than 24, and 15 karat is so much more durable and 'hard' than 18 karat. Some jewelry of the Regolini-Galassi tomb was too; thin, delicate and big to have been worn while more robust and less poutre gold ornamentation was solid enough to have been worn in life.
Etruscans would also mold their gold and jewels into stone-carved molds.
Archaic Era
Lydian
Lydian may refer to:* Lydian language, an ancient Anatolian language* Lydian script* Lydian mode, one of the modes derived from ancient Greek music* Lydian , a decorative typeface* Lydia, an ancient kingdom in western Anatolia...
type of jewellery and became a fashionable trend during the archaic period with the strong East Greek influence spreading in the second half of the sixth century BCE.
Valise-type earrings were mostly made in Vulci and were very widespread. The heavy pendants started becoming fashionable along with the Middle Eastern floral elements and all the other types of influence the Etruscans received from elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
The fibulae became an item closer to jewelry in the archaic period. During the Villanovan era they were mainly bronze. Progressively though they turned into a subject of ornament.
Classical Era
Bulla
-People:* Anton Bulla, a Slovak footballer and coach* Clyde Robert Bulla , an American author of books for children* Johnny Bulla, an American golfer* Karl Bulla, a Russian photographer* Max Bulla, an Australian bicycle racer...
e). During this period, a different kind of earring comes into fashion: the grape cluster shaped earring. These kinds of earrings would cover the whole ear and sometimes hung down to the neck.
During the archaic period, "bigger was better". Large hanging earrings, long necklaces and heavy pendants or bullae were in style and worn by both men and woman alike. Woman, by modern standards started looking like "Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
s" as the fashion of the time was really large brooding figures. Women were excessively adorned and wore large diadems
Diadems
The Diadems was one of the bands created by the 3rd French season of the popular reality show show "Popstars", called "Popstars - the Duel" aired on RTL Group TV channel Métropole 6 in fall 2003...
, bracelets and circlets, hair spirals, heavy earrings in the shape of grape clusters, large heavy pendant
Pendant
A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, when the ensemble may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. In modern French "pendant" is the gerund form of “hanging”...
s (also worn by men and children).
These were the fashion all throughout the fifth and fourth centuries. Necklaces were paired up. They would wear big necklaces with assorted beads, then another one with a big hanging pendant. Earrings with a long oval pendant and a smaller one hanging below were also very well received in the Etruscan community. In the early third century, bead necklaces and bullae remain popular as do torque
Torque
Torque, moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....
s, which were rings of colour hair (of an animal) or feathers around the neck. In the late classical era body jewelry became more and more popular as the fashions tended towards a progressive state of undress. The body jewelry was the adornment of the body and was paired with other artifacts such as shoes, holding mirrors, etc.
Hellenistic Era
These styles stayed popular throughout the Hellenistic period as well as the Roman period. During the Hellenistic periods, technical decline and excessively complex shapes and decoration characterised the jewelry.Jewelry becomes omnipresent during the Hellenistic period. It becomes unisex and is worn by people whether they are naked or dressed. In images, women were often represented with only slippers and a torque or necklace. The heavy necklaces of the classical era are now replaced by strands of beads and torques.
Further reading
- Bonfante, Larissa. Etruscan Life and Afterlife. Detroit, Michigan, Wayne state university press 1986.
- Brendel, Otto J. Etruscan Art. New Haven,Yale University Press 1978
- Haynes, Sybille. Etruscan Civilization.