Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1884-11-16
ARMLET or SWEET THAT'S.
BaubIe. Of an 0daIssque Found on
the Banks Of tho 0xus.
esidsm;ths of the 0idea Times and Their
Open-Ar wOrk---Ie~eis Of the
Ancient Gseess and
Romans.

Ancient 0feeNS ANU
Romans.
A writer in The I.oadon Telegraph dreams
in very interesting manner, vide:
A beautiful gold bracelet which was
lately found on the banks Of the ONus and
bought sy the KensiHgton Museum for
fl,O0V, Is supposed to be more than 1000
years old. The finding Of this jewel carries
nv imagination back to some of the NEST
stirring of ancient Gays, and fancy that the
ornament was perhaps worn BY the lovely
That's, when she held her court in the very
| place where the bracelet has lain hidden
for so many centuries. As specimen OF
ancient goldsmiths work, it is OF great
value; for though antiquity was protuse IN
personal ornament, We have but little LETT TO
assure us Of the wondrous TASTE the sur
RAISING skill Of the artist goldsmiths OF
! Asia, Greece or Rome. That thev were
| magnificent in their works all history as
sures us, but the surviving jewels are all
too few to give any adequate idea OF the
taste and richness Of their handicrstt. Ia
shape the present arm!et is plain bangle,
having at the ends two-wingcd sphinN-Iike
figures, but with eagles beaki and twisted
horns, pointed probably, to Assyrian in
| huence, as the eagle is not Greek orps-
ment. though common in Ninevite art.
| Originally it WAS caamalled but the luStrous
material has all vanished. leaving only sui-
tcient discoloration to prove that it WAS
orce there. That the bracelet vas Asistic,
ard net European, in its origin is probable,
aud there is reason, perhaps for sapposing
that Il was part Of some spoil taken BY
Alexander as he swept eastward, emptying
the treasures Of imperial capitals, and
| Piundcring Palaces and Cities.
Who made this pretty bauble that has come
to England after ali these years? Fancy
finds this question rs easy to answer as the
other? Who wore it. Nor remarking
how many fashions and pattesns in ancient
icwelry 90 back 10 the banks Of the Ganges,
and bow, in the old days Of magnitieenc:S, IL
| !.-p -....:.L, as.,.--
,,"eIty, famous sems,D..-.~, ..."o.ers oftnt..
craft, travelled like princes from court 10
court, and were passed on by the personal
,nyi!aIion Of kings from palace to palace, is
it beyond the possibilities Of fact that this
armIet WAS the work of some Avrian artiti-
Ger. In primitive countries the goldsmith
works in the open air: the customer comes
and sits to watch his jewelry being made.
There is not light enough within the shop,
so the smith sIuats upon his carpets spread
on the raised platform before the door, and
there, in the bright sunshine, with his taste
fully formed implements about him, melts
the metal and moulds it, engrnves and be-
gems il, all in full sight of the busy street
! l.oitercrs stop and watch. They tell each
/ other it is for soaud.so. The goldsmith
there has no secrets. His weights are
! public property, as it were; his work pro-
ceeds under the eyes Of all his Deighbors.
To the western mind the simplicity Of his
processes, the apparently rude apparatus
with which they work, raises smile. but
when the jewel is complete all the world
! confesses its beauty, and scorniul Europe
does not hesitate TO adopt the pattern. SO
that the pattern of That's armlet dropped
on the banks of the Oxus survives, through
the "armills Of Rome in the bangle OF to-
day; and the plain gold baud, with fantis-
DC little creatures OF mythic form as orna-
ments atthe ends. Just such as Alexander S
la' orite were, may be seen any day in the
jewellers shops of our own metropolis.
This armilIa or psaillon was especially a
fayorite ornament with nations Of McSo-
notamia where men wore it as well as wo.
I mcn. The Greeks considered it eiFeminste
| for men to DO so aud the Romans initiated
them. though the dandics of both nations
might sometimes be seen with bracelets on
III. arm. AS q military reward the arInlet
WIS highly valued, and
| 4 Massive Coil of Gold
twisted six times around the soldiers arm
was as honorable as the the Victoria Cross.
The jewel to which we are referring, how
ever, is too dainty in its design for any but
a iady'S arm, and though Of course it may
be all that is left Of some handsome young
Persian who carried his lady loves favor
into fatal fight, it is far more legitimate TO
suppose that It belonged to the sex whom
such ornaments best adorn. Who she was
the world can never know; but the place of
its finding, and the date that is assigned to
it, carry us back to the day Of Darius and
Alexander. Each these great captains,
as Was the custom Of the times, took with
them on their campaigns the favOrite ladies
OF Their courts, and with such circumstances
Of luxury that they we're able at moment 6
notice to reproduce in an spot, whether
rrsert or wilderness, the retinements an
pleasures OF their palaces so that both in
the Persian aud Macedonian camps there
we're Jewels enough, and to one or the other
belongs probably, the srmlet that has juSt
heen discovered. II NAV be that some
fair PeIsians almond eyes kindled out OF
their voluptuous dreamiuess into moment.
airy anger when the slave came to tell the
pttted odalesque that her bracelet could
not be fcUnd, Or it may be That some
quickly augered Athenian was the sufferer
by the loss ard-alas tor the manner Of
Grccce.-that some poor Clytemnestra o.
a maid went away weeping from the ten
conscious Of boxed ears. Yet, Whatever il
may have been, We have got the armlet
and imagination can do with it nearly as il
piesses.
Dying on u shilling Week.
t'ry Mn GGss.