The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1876-11-18
The Wonderful Besaty Of Antique
JOWelfy.

The Wonderful Beauty Of Antique
Jewelry.
Among the curious things in the col
lection brought to the Exhibition by
Signor Alessandro Castellani none are
more striking and interesting than the
collection Of personal ornaments. This
collection illustrates the origin, prog
ress, and decline of the goldsmith 3
art from the prehistoric periods down
to the thirteenth century. This is the
section which especially pleases the
ladies. Women in all ranks of life
linger about the twenty cases in which
the beautiful gems are exhibited, and
their eyes are as bright as the brightest
of the objects exhibited. OF the bronze
prehistoric ornaments found at Praen-
este some time since there has already
been mention in this correspondence,
but of the early silver and glass orna-
ments used in Etruria, the beautiful sill
yer necklaces ornamented with astro-
logic crosses and other symbols, the
spindles of glass and ivory, the silver
bells used to decorate the dresses; of
the Etruscan and Phenician earrings,
amulets, large rose-shaped ornaments !;
of the vases of beaten gold, not much
has been said. When one undertakes
to analyze Castellani's collection in de-
tail, the sum demanded for it does not
appear large. 1t is almost humiliating
to observe that nearly 1900 years be-
fore America was discovered the
Etruscan ornaments were more
beautiful than any thing that we have
in these days. How exquisite are the
helices of gold for the hair, the gold
earrings shaped like punches of grapes,
the delicate amphorS in alabaster.
Castellani also shows us Italo- Greek
ornaments of a period 1856 years before
Christ. Among them are lovely golden
circular stands for perfume vases they
are decorated with human and equine
heads in relief and covered with granu-
lated work. Here are cicadas made OF
onyx, which the beautiful Athenian
wives placed in their hair as talismans
against sterility; necklaces of garnets
mounted in gold, and with clasps rep
resenting gazelle heads; golden ear
rings in the form of the dolphin sacred
to Venus; others bough-shaped, deco
rated with flowers and grain in relief !;
and bracelets, in which the beads alter
nate with full-blown roses. In connec-
ton with these charming objects is
shown textile fabric made almost en-
tirely of gold, which was found in a
tomb at q Metapantum, from which
many of the earrings and necklaces
were taken. This fabric was found up
on the body of a woman whose tomb
was invaded that we of more than 1900
years later might learn how she was
dressed for burial. In the Etruscan
ornaments in which gold is combined
with enamels of various colors, there
are some specimens shown here of
which the world can produce only one
or two rivals. Signor Castellani points
with satisfaction to the only example
of ancient translucent enamel ever
known in a pair of golden earrings
v III flowers of green enamel, and white
enameled dogs as pendants; and he
informs us that the rarity of the small
gold Cupids as pendants, of which he
exhibits one, is SO marked that the
British Museum has to this day been
unable to obtain but single specimen
of them. OF ornaments Of the Ptoie-
maic style found in Syria there is no
lack in this superb gathering of gems.
The great ham-shaped earrings, the
bracelets whose clasps represent the
temple of the mystic Isis, the golden
chains with golden bells worn for the
purpose of warding off the dangers Of
the "evil eye" the hair-pins surmount-
ed by acorns, the diadems formed by
branches of vines bearing fruit, the
amulets with the head of Jupiter Am
mon wrought upon them, the golden
armillas covered with the most elabor-
ate repousse work, furnish food for
hours of admiring study. The early
Christian ornaments from the Cata-
combs, the personal ornaments of the
time of Charlemagne, and those of the
Lombards, are wonderfully and deli
cately beautiful. Seen as they necessa-
rily are at the Exhibition in rich masses,
in voluptuous grouping of form and
color, their individual beauty can hard
ly be estimated; they must be separat-
ed before they can be appreciated
EdUard King, in Boston journal.