Earring

5th‐4th century B.C.
Gold, turquoise, glass
H. 6.9 cm, W. 3.7 cm
A flat circle is made up of three rings of small, medium and large size decorated with cornice designs and a crescent-shaped pendant is suspended from the circle. One side of the crescent is decorated with an arched line of seven round fittings filled with turquoise inlay, and the back of the crescent is decorated with a striped design centered on a lotus motif and is inlaid with glass and turquoise. Only a few of the inlaid stones remain. Five pendants with lotus blossom finials inlaid with stones hang from the bottom of the crescent and today one of the five pendants is missing.

A rich variety of styles can be found in the earring group, and there are many more earrings than those found in the Oxus treasure. These earrings can be basically divided into two groups: simple items and elaborated items. The simple earrings are simply open loops, or those with small fasteners. The other group includes pendants in addition to the fasteners. There are more of the open loop form, and as there is no clear difference in period between the different styles of simple forms with small granules or rings for attaching pendants, it is hard to assign dates to these works. The works with small fittings for inlay or granulation are thought to date from the Hellenistic period. The majority of these earrings are made of silver with gold plating, and they were the work of skilled craftsmen.

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