Basket Earring

Description One of the most common types of Langobardic jewelry, the basket earring derives its name from the hemispherical "basket" of gold wire or basket-like dome of sheet gold on its hoop. The front disk of gold is inlaid with gold wire cells to hold glass pastes arranged in the shape of a cross. Between the arms of the cross are four gold bosses decorated with gold granules. There also are beads of gold granulation creating a border around the circumference of the front disk. At the bottom of the disk is a gold wire loop for the suspension of a pendant. On the back, the sheet-gold basket has a cruciform pattern of incised circles. The repetition of the cross motif on this earring suggests Christian Langobard patronage. The loop is circular and has gold pseudo-filigree. Unusual features of the earring include the hinge on the loop for the suspension of the disk and basket and the hinged pendant loop.

Exhibitions

• Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1947.
• Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980.
• Objects of Adornment: Five Thousand Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. 1984-1987.
• Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum and the Zucker Family Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1987.

Provenance Joseph Brummer, Paris; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1927, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters