During the Hellenistic period of ancient Greek history,
jewelry served as a means for personal adornment as well as an offering for the
gods. The Greeks were a pious people who worshipped a large number of deities.
Most of them required or encouraged some form of sacrifice or gift in exchange
for answered prayers. Not surprisingly, many pieces of beautifully designed
jewelry were expressly commissioned to be dedicated at a temple and left there
as a reminder to the god or goddess of the prayers issued along with the gift.
When the jewelry item was made for personal use, its design
and material choices were frequently decided on with an eye on durability.
Greeks liked to pass on their jewelry to the next generation. Women in
particular purchased jewelry with the intent of gifting these pieces to their
daughters when they married. Since jewelry was a common wedding gift for a
mother to give, the pieces had to have a somewhat timeless appeal to remain in
the families for several generations.
Typical pieces included earrings, bracelets, bands to be worn
around the upper arms and thighs, rings, wreaths and necklaces. Men might wear
pins on their cloaks. Popular motifs included depictions of gods, demigods and
nature. Before gold caught on widely as a material of choice in ancient Greek
jewelry – right around 1600 BCE – there were stringed beads. These beads were
frequently worked to take on animal or even shell shapes. Another change in the
way Greeks created jewelry was brought on by trade. Greece
benefited tremendously from the riches of the Silk Road, which led to imports
of numerous precious stones from Asia, Egypt
and North Africa.
Right around 300 BCE, ancient Greek jewelry included pearls
and intricately carved settings. Inlays were becoming the norm. Artisans worked
hard to improve the intricacy of their carvings since these pieces could demand
higher prices on the markets. During this time, cameo jewelry became quite
popular and further forced artisans to refine their jewelry making techniques. Right
around this time, another change took place. The ancient Greek style of jewelry
design changed by 27 BCE when the pressing influence of the Roman
Empire flooded the Greek world as well.
Jewelry dating back to this period is occasionally difficult
to separate by Greek or Roman origins. Historians and jewelry experts suggest
that Greek designs rarely tended toward the opulence their Roman counterparts
showed off. As a result, they sometimes look to the innate straightforwardness
of Greek designs as a means to tell apart the pieces from this period. Modern
jewelry makers are now imitating the look of ancient Greek jewelry as this
style is currently enjoying a great revival.
At Peter Suchy Jewelers, we are experts at vintage and
antique jewelry and many of the pieces we run across are vintage and estate
Greek jewelry items. We invite you to stop by our showroom located at 1137 High
Ridge Road in Stamford Connecticut and take a look around!
Or if you prefer, head on over to our top-rated PowerSeller
eBay store where’ you’ll find we have over 5,000 transactions to date with 100
percent positive feedback.
Please do like us on Facebook and be sure to check out and
share our Pinterest Boards!
No comments:
Post a Comment