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Greek Hoop Earring with Lion Head

Greek (Artist)
4th-3rd century BC (Hellenistic)
gold
(Ancient Greece , Jewelry)

Hoop earrings, worn in pairs, with animal-head finials were popular during the Hellenistic period. This lion-headed example represents the common type, which appeared in many different sizes. To create the body of the hoop, very thin wire is wound around a tapering core of gold. The earring is fastened by hooking the thin end of the hoop through a hoop in the lion's mouth.

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sadie Jones (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York, 1931, by inheritance; Joseph Brummer, Paris and New York, 1941, by purchase [Brummer inv. no. N5132]; Walters Art Museum, 1941, by purchase.

Exhibitions

2010 Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry. El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso.
2006-2009 Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
1984-1987 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 Art, Minneapolis; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota.
1987 Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery and the Zucker Family Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1979-1980 Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
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Geographies

Greece (Place of Origin)

Measurements

13/16 in. (2.1 cm) (l.)

Credit Line

Museum purchase [formerly part of the Walters Collection], 1941

Location in Museum

Not on view

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

57.1665

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