Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-01-02
A CURIOUS SURVIVAL
The. Earring Dates From the Earliest
Times.

mated in the remotest times, is the
earring. Worn by the kings Of Egypt,
and extremely popular among the
ladies of ancient Rome, 1t subsequent
ly lost favor until the gay days Of the
Stuart period, after which 1t again
dropped out, and has now once more
regained popularity. The very ear-
liest mention Of this form Of decora-
ton is to be found in the Book Of
Genesis, Jacob, it will be remember
ed, on reaching Bethel. buried certain
strange idols, among them some ear
rings belonging to his family. Doubt
less these ornaments were regarded
purely in propitiatory light as anu
lets or talismans, such being still
their principal office in the east to-
day. That they are Of eastern origin
is certain, and among Orientals. with
the exception Of Greeks and Hebrews.
1t has always been the custom for
both sexes to wear them, while fre-
quently only one ear was adorned.
Among other races, however. earrings
were always worn in pairs and by the
women only.
Excavation has frequently brought
to light statues, Greek, Egyptian.
Assyrian and Etruscan, to the ears Of
which were attached rings Of marvel
Gus beauty, and commonly Of two dis
tinct types, the earlier one consisting
Of two halves and decorated with
some animals head, as that OF a lion
or bull; the latter attached to the ear
by hook in the form of a rosette.
with numerous pendants bearing
delicate figures-a tiny victory or
eros playing some musical instru-
ment. In course Of time, and by
natural process of fashion. the Greek
rings assumed such dimensions that
they could no longer be attached to
the ear lobe, but depended instead
from diadem or tress Of hair. In
Egypt the earrings were OF an ex-
tremely simple character. often mere
L ly a ring-shaped hook hung with
some symbolical pendant They
were, however, used only in a sacred
sense, being worn by the sovereign
on great occasions. as may be judged
from the massive head upon the stat
ue of Remeses II, in the British
museum, in the ears Of which holes
are punched. Wonderful workman
ship is seen in the earrings recovered
from the tombs Of Greek settlers In
the Crimea, while the sepulchsss OF
ancient Etruria have yielded rings not
unlike those found in Greece. usual
ly saddle shaped or decorated with
small enameled figures Of birds, such
as cocks, swans, geese, peacocks and
/doxmm.The Phoenicians, we are told,
used ~ ,rzsree. the upper palt as well
as the lobes 44fktheIr ears. inserting
plain rings, from Hhich depended
drop-shaped pendants ~ ornamental
baskets OF gram. Rings -wefe a1so-
tached to the hair on each side Of the
head.
| Simple enough but Of priceless VAL
ue were the pearl earrings worn by
Roman ladies. Pearls bad been I'M
ported into Rome In large quant-
ties about the time Of Sulla, and after
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 earrings followed the Ro-
man cast to a large extent. though
usually crescent-shaped and richly
ornamented. Earrings were put 10
strange uses in those luxurious times,
for of Antonia, the wife OF the Roman
Drusus, 1t is related that she attach
ed a valuable pair to her pet lam
prey.
Earrings were not particularly pop
ular among the Franks--at best tney
amounted merely to ring OF plain
silver wire-and, indeed, we do not
gain find them in favor until the
nth and 18th centuries, though they
seem to have been popular enough
with the ladies of William rs court.
During the middle ages, however tne
fashion of wearing the hair loose up
on the shoulders. with perhaps
covering veil, effectually hid the ears
from sight. During the Renaissance
neriod. earrings were fairly popular
on the continent, as Is shown by
several well known portraits OF that
time. Later on Queen Elizabeth was
IN the habit Of wearing pearl ear
drops, while Mary Queen OF scots'
seems also to have possessed num-
ber of these, judging by the inven-
tory of her jewelry. Curious'y
enough. they were largely affected
even by the male courtiers OF the
| 18th and 18th centuries-a fashion
which seems to have been imported
from Spain and which nightly shock
ed the Puritans. Usually only one ear
was ornamented as in the portrait OF
the earl of Somerset in the nationai
gallery. The duke of Buckingham
was famous for his diamond earrings,
while other great men who followed
this mode were SHAKESPEARE and Sir
Walter Raleigh.
The last notable example OF men
wearing earrings seems to have been
Charles I himself, who hung large
pearl in his left ear, which he pre-
sented upon the scaffold to faithful
follower. After the Restoration, men
kept them only as a supersutious
preservative against eye ahecnons'
while under the Georges they went
| practically out Of fashion, thougn
several handsome designs are to be
found in jewelers. catalogues OF that
time. The earrings Of today have no
peculiar dlstinctiveness Of their: own'
but largely reproduce all the forego-