Description
Elaborate diadems or necklaces featuring centerpieces of inlaid stones, pendants, and beaded chains go back to 3rd- and 2nd-century Greek jewelry. This necklace was found on the neck of the deceased; as the symbol of the soul, the butterfly was an appropriate motif for a burial gift.






Necklace with Butterfly Pendant
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
2/28/1979 | Treatment | cleaned; stabilized |
10/28/1988 | Treatment | repaired |
10/28/1988 | Treatment | other |
11/08/1988 | Treatment | stabilized |
Exhibitions
- Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980.
- From Alexander to Cleopatra: Greek Art of the Hellenistic Age. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1988-1989.
- Excursions through the Collection: Portraiture, Adornment, and the Natural World. 2019-2021.
Provenance
[Discovered in 1891, in a tomb near Olbia, Parutino, Ukraine]; Postnikov, Moscow, by purchase [from a local dealer in Ukraine]; Spinks, London, by purchase [around the turn of the century]; Peter Mavrogordato, 1913, by purchase [on the art market]; Collection of F. L. van Gans?, Frankfurt, 1913-1920, by purchase; Galerie Bachstitz, The Hague [catalogue 1921, part II, lot 92 B]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1926, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1926
Creator
- Greek (Artist)
Period
late 2nd-1st century BC (Hellenistic)Medium
gold, amethyst, chalcedony, emerald, rock crystal, pearl, and colored glass(Gold, Silver & Jewelry)
Accession Number
57.386Measurements
2 15/16 x 13 x 1/2 in. (7.5 x 33 x 1.3 cm); 12 7/8 in. (32.7 cm) (l.)Geographies
- Greece (Place of Origin)
- Ukraine, Parutino (Olbia) (Place of Discovery)