Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-20
EARRINGS HISTORY.
Antiquity the Habit of Wearing
This Ornament.
WORN BY EGYPTIAN KINGS
Mention of This Form of Jeyyelry
to Be Found in the Book
of Genesis.

From the London Globe.
y curious instance OF the survival and
revival OF fashion which originated in
the remotest times is the earring. Worn
by the Kings OF Egypt. and extremely
popular among the ladies OF ancient
Rome. IL subsequently, lost favor until
the gay days OF tie Stuart period after
which IL again dropped out. and has now
once more regained popularity The very
earliest mention OF this form OF dccora-
ton Is to be found i'm the Book OF Gene
sis. Jacob, IL will be remembered. on
reaching Bethel buried certain strange
idols. among them some earrings belong
ing 10 his family. Doubtless these orna-
ments We're regarded purely in a pro
pitiatory light amulets or taiismaus.
such being still their principal office In
the east today. That they are of eastern
origin is certain. and among orientals.
with the exception OF Greeks and lie
brews. il has always been the custom
for both sexes to wear them, while fire.
quently only one ear was adorned. Among
other races. however, earrings We're al
ways worn in pairs. and by the women
only.
Earrings on Statues.
Excavation has frequently brought TO
light statues, Greek. Egyptian. Assy-
rian and Etruscan, TO the ears of which
were attached rings of marvellous
beauty, and commonly of two distinct
types. the earlier one consisting Of two
halves and decorated with some ami
malls head. as that of a lion or bull,
the latter attached to the ear by a hook
in the form OF a rosette. with numer-
Gus pendants bearing delicate iigures--
tiny Victory or Eros playing some
musical instrument. In course of time,
and by a natural process of fashion.
the Greek rings assumed such dimen-
sions that they could no longer be at
tached to the ear lobe bu- depended
instead from a diadem or tress of hair.
In Egypt the earrings were OF an ex-
tremely simple character. often merely
ring-shared hook hung with some sym
bolical pendant They Were. however.
used only in sacred sense. being worn
by the sovereign on great occasions. as
may be judged from the massive head
upon the statue OF Rameses Ii in the
British Museum. In the ears OF which
holes are pierced Wonderful workman
ship is seen in the earrings recovered
from the tombs of Greek settlers In the
Crimea, while the sepulchres of ancient
Etruria have yielded rings not unlike
those found in Greece. usually saddle
shaped or decorated with small enameled
figures of birds, such as cocks swans.
geese. peacocks and doves. The rho
nicans we are told used &c pierce the
upper part as well as the lobes OF their
ears inserting plain rings from which de-
pended drop-shaped pendants or orna-
mental baskets of grain. Rings were also
attached to the hair on each side of the
head.
Gems of Roman Ladies.
Simple enough. but of priceless value.
were the Pearl earrings WORN by Roman
ladies' Pearls had been imported into
Rome in large quantities about the time
of Sulla, and later Pliny wrote: They
seek for pearls at the bottom of the Red
sea and search the bowels Of the earth
for emeralds to decorate their ears"
while Seneca thus piquantly refers TO the
new fashion: The extravagant fools
probably think their husbands are not
sufficiently plagued without their having
two or three heritages hanging down
from their ears Early Byzantine ear
rings followed the Roman cast to a large
extent, though usually crescent shaped
and richly ornamented. Earrings were
put to strange uses in those luxurious
times. for of Antonio, the wife of the
Roman Drusus. it is related that she at
tached a valuable pair to her pet lamprey
Earrings were not particularly Popular
among the Franks-at best they amount
ed merely to ring of plain silver wire
and. indeed We do not again find them in
favor until the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. though they seem TO have BEEN
popular enough with the ladies OF VIII
liam Is court. During the middle ages,
however. the fashion Of wearing the hair
loose upon the shoulders. with perhaps
covering veil. effectualy hid the ears
from sight. During the renaissance period
earrings were fairly popular on the con-
tinent. as is shown by several well known
portraits of that time. Later on Queen
Elizabeth was in the habit OF wearing
pearl peardrops, while Mary, Queen of
Scots, seems also to have possessed a nuln-
Der of these, judging by the inventory or
her iewelry. Curi0usly enough, they were
! largely affected even by the male cour
/ tiers of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries fashion which seems 10 have
been imported from STain and which
nightly shocked the Puritans. Usually
only ear was ornamented. as in the
portrait of the Earl Of Somerset Ia the
National Gallery. The Duke OF Bucking-
ham was famous for his diamond ear
rings, while other great men who fol-
lowed this mode We're Shakespeare and
Sir Walter Raleigh.
The last notable example of men wear
ing earrings seems to have been Charles
| himself, who hung large pearl in his
left ear, which he presented upon the
scaffold TO a faithful follower