jewellery in world

8/13/2019 Jewellery in World

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The first signs of jewellery came from the people in Africa. Perforated beads suggesting shell

jewellery made from sea snail shells have been found dating to 75,000 years ago at Blombos

Cave. In Kenya, at Enkapune Ya Muto, beads made from perforated ostrich egg shells have been

dated to more than 40,000 years ago.

Outside of Africa, the Cro-Magnons had crude necklaces and bracelets of bone, teeth, berries,

and stone hung on pieces of string or animal sinew, or pieces of carved bone used to secure

clothing together. In some cases, jewellery had shell or mother-of-pearl pieces. In southern

Russia, carved bracelets made of mammoth tusk have been found. The Venus of Hohle Fels

features a perforation at the top, showing that it was intended to be worn as a pendant.

Around 7,000 years ago, the first sign of copper jewellery was seen In October 2012 the Museum

of Ancient History in Lower Austria revealed that they had found a grave of a female jewellery

worker - forcing archaeologists to take a fresh look at prehistoric gender roles after it appeared to

be that of a female fine metal worker - a profession that was previously thought to have been

carried out exclusively by men.

An Egyptian 18th dynasty pharaonic era princess' crown.

The first signs of established jewellery making in Ancient Egypt was around 3,000-5,000 years

ago. The Egyptians preferred the luxury, rarity, and workability of gold over other metals. In

Predynastic Egypt jewellery soon began to symbolise power and religious power in the

community. Although it was worn by wealthy Egyptians in life, it was also worn by them in

death, with jewellery commonly placed among grave goods.

In conjunction with gold jewellery, Egyptians used coloured glass, along with precious gems.

The colour of the jewellery had significance. Green, for example, symbolised fertility. Although

lapis lazuli and silver had to be imported from beyond the countrys borders, many other

materials for jewellery were found in or near Egypt.[citation needed]

Egyptian designs were most common in Phoenician jewellery. Also, ancient Turkish designs

found in Persian jewellery suggest that trade between the Middle East and Europe was not

uncommon. Women wore elaborate gold and silver pieces that were used in ceremonies. Pair of


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Gold Hair Ornaments, Mesopotamian, circa 2000 BC (Isin-larsa period). Decorated with

granulation and cloisonn.Walters Art Museum collections.

By approximately 5,000 years ago, jewellery-making had become a significant craft in the cities

of Mesopotamia. The most significant archaeological evidence comes from the Royal Cemetery

of Ur, where hundreds of burials dating 29002300 BC were unearthed; tombs such as that of

Puabi contained a multitude of artefacts in gold, silver, and semi-precious stones, such as lapis

lazuli crowns embellished with gold figurines, close-fitting collar necklaces, and jewel-headed

pins. In Assyria, men and women both wore extensive amounts of jewellery, including amulets,

ankle bracelets, heavy multi-strand necklaces, and cylinder seals.

Jewellery in Mesopotamia tended to be manufactured from thin metal leaf and was set with large

numbers of brightly coloured stones (chiefly agate, lapis, carnelian, and jasper). Favoured shapes

included leaves, spirals, cones, and bunches of grapes. Jewellers created works both for human

use and for adorning statues and idols. They employed a wide variety of sophisticated

metalworking techniques, such as cloisonn, engraving, fine granulation, and filigree.

Extensive and meticulously maintained records pertaining to the trade and manufacture of

jewellery have also been unearthed throughout Mesopotamian archaeological sites. One record in

the Mari royal archives, for example, gives the composition of various items of jewellery:

1 necklace of flat speckled chalcedony beads including: 34 flat speckled chalcedony bead, 35

gold fluted beads, in groups of five

1 necklace of flat speckled chalcedony beads including: 39 flat speckled chalcedony beads,41

fluted beads in a group that make up the hanging device.

1 necklace with rounded lapis lazuli beads including: 28 rounded lapis lazuli beads, 29 fluted

beads for its clasp.

Gold earring from Mycenae, 16th century BC.

The Greeks started using gold and gems in jewellery in 1600 BC, although beads shaped as

shells and animals were produced widely in earlier times. By 300 BC, the Greeks had mastered

making coloured jewellery and using amethysts, pearl, and emeralds. Also, the first signs of


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cameos appeared, with the Greeks creating them from Indian Sardonyx, a striped brown pink and

cream agate stone. Greek jewellery was often simpler than in other cultures, with simple designs

and workmanship. However, as time progressed, the designs grew in complexity and different

materials were soon used.

Pendant with naked woman, made from electrum, Rhodes, around 630-620 BC.

Jewellery in Greece was hardly worn and was mostly used for public appearances or on special

occasions. It was frequently given as a gift and was predominantly worn by women to show their

wealth, social status, and beauty. The jewellery was often supposed to give the wearer protection

from the Evil Eye or endowed the owner with supernatural powers, while others had a

religious symbolism. Older pieces of jewellery that have been found were dedicated to the Gods.

The largest production of jewellery in these times came from Northern Greece and Macedon.

However, although much of the jewellery in Greece was made of gold and silver with ivory and

gemstones, bronze and clay copies were made also

Ancient Greek jewellery from 300 BC.

They worked two styles of pieces: cast pieces and pieces hammered out of sheet metal. Fewer

pieces of cast jewellery have been recovered. It was made by casting the metal onto two stone or

clay moulds. The two halves were then joined together, and wax, followed by molten metal, was

placed in the centre. This technique had been practised since the late Bronze Age. The more

common form of jewellery was the hammered sheet type. Sheets of metal would be hammered to

thickness and then soldered together. The inside of the two sheets would be filled with wax or

another liquid to preserve the metal work. Different techniques, such as using a stamp or

engraving, were then used to create motifs on the jewellery. Jewels may then be added to

hollows or glass poured into special cavities on the surface. The Greeks took much of their

designs from outer origins, such as Asia, when Alexander the Great conquered part of it. In

earlier designs, other European influences can also be detected. When Roman rule came to

Greece, no change in jewellery designs was detected. However, by 27 BC, Greek designs were

heavily influenced by the Roman culture. That is not to say that indigenous design did not thrive.

Numerous polychrome butterfly pendants on silver foxtail chains, dating from the 1st century,

have been found near Olbia, with only one example ever found anywhere else.


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These Hellenistic bracelets from the 1st century BC show the influence of Eastern cultures.

Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

Roman Amethyst intaglio engraved gem, c. 212 AD; later regarded as of St. Peter.

Although jewellery work was abundantly diverse in earlier times, especially among the barbarian

tribes such as the Celts, when the Romans conquered most of Europe, jewellery was changed as

smaller factions developed the Roman designs. The most common artefact of early Rome was

the brooch, which was used to secure clothing together. The Romans used a diverse range of

materials for their jewellery from their extensive resources across the continent. Although they

used gold, they sometimes used bronze or bone, and in earlier times, glass beads & pearl. As

early as 2,000 years ago, they imported Sri Lankan sapphires and Indian diamonds and used

emeralds and amber in their jewellery. In Roman-ruled England, fossilised wood called jet from

Northern England was often carved into pieces of jewellery. The early Italians worked in crude

gold and created clasps, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. They also produced larger pendants

that could be filled with perfume.

Like the Greeks, often the purpose of Roman jewellery was to ward off the Evil Eye given by

other people. Although women wore a vast array of jewellery, men often only wore a finger ring.

Although they were expected to wear at least one ring, some Roman men wore a ring on every

finger, while others wore none. Roman men and women wore rings with an engraved gem on it

that was used with wax to seal documents, a practice that continued into medieval times when

kings and noblemen used the same method. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the jewellery

designs were absorbed by neighbouring countries and tribes.

6th century bronze eagle-shaped Visigothic cloisonn fibula from Guadalajara, Spain, using

glass-paste fillings in imitation of garnets.

Post-Roman Europe continued to develop jewellery making skills. The Celts and Merovingiansin particular are noted for their jewellery, which in terms of quality matched or exceeded that of

Byzantium. Clothing fasteners, amulets, and, to a lesser extent, signet rings, are the most

common artefacts known to us. A particularly striking Celtic example is the Tara Brooch. The

Torc was common throughout Europe as a symbol of status and power. By the 8th century,

jewelled weaponry was common for men, while other jewellery (with the exception of signet


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rings) seemed to become the domain of women. Grave goods found in a 6th-7th century burial

near Chalon-sur-Sane are illustrative. A young girl was buried with: 2 silver fibulae, a necklace

(with coins), bracelet, gold earrings, a pair of hair-pins, comb, and buckle.The Celts specialised

in continuous patterns and designs, while Merovingian designs are best known for stylised

animal figures.They were not the only groups known for high quality work. Note the Visigoth

work shown here, and the numerous decorative objects found at the Anglo-Saxon Ship burial at

Sutton Hoo Suffolk, England are a particularly well-known example. On the continent, cloisonn

and garnet were perhaps the quintessential method and gemstone of the period

The Eastern successor of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, continued many of the

methods of the Romans, though religious themes came to predominate. Unlike the Romans, the

Franks, and the Celts, however, Byzantium used light-weight gold leaf rather than solid gold, and

more emphasis was placed on stones and gems. As in the West, Byzantine jewellery was worn

by wealthier females, with male jewellery apparently restricted to signet rings. Woman's

jewellery had some peculiarities like kolts that decorated headband. Like other contemporary

cultures, jewellery was commonly buried with its owner.[27]

China

The Chinese used silver in their jewellery more than gold. Blue kingfisher feathers were tied

onto early Chinese jewellery and later, blue gems and glass were incorporated into designs.

However, jade was preferred over any other stone. The Chinese revered jade because of the

human-like qualities they assigned to it, such as its hardness, durability, and beauty.[6] The first

jade pieces were very simple, but as time progressed, more complex designs evolved. Jade rings

from between the 4th and 7th centuries BC show evidence of having been worked with a

compound milling machine, hundreds of years before the first mention of such equipment in the

west.

North and South America

Jewellery played a major role in the fate of the Americas when the Spanish established an empire

to seize South American gold. Jewellery making developed in the Americas 5,000 years ago in

Central and South America. Large amounts of gold was easily accessible, and the Aztecs,


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Mixtecs, Mayans, and numerous Andean cultures, such as the Mochica of Peru, created beautiful

pieces of jewellery.

With the Mochica culture, goldwork flourished. The pieces are no longer simple metalwork, but

are now masterful examples of jewellery making. Pieces are sophisticated in their design, and

feature inlays of turquoise, mother of pearl, spondylus shell, and amethyst. The nose and ear

ornaments, chest plates, small containers and whistles are considered masterpieces of ancient

Peruvian culture.

Native American

Bai-De-Schluch-A-Ichin or Be-Ich-Schluck-Ich-In-Et-Tzuzzigi (Slender Silversmith) "Metal

Beater," Navajo silversmith, photo by George Ben Wittick, 1883

Native American jewellery is the personal adornment, often in the forms of necklaces, earrings,

bracelets, rings, pins, brooches, labrets, and more, made by the Indigenous peoples of the United

States. Native American jewellery reflects the cultural diversity and history of its makers. Native

American tribes continue to develop distinct aesthetics rooted in their personal artistic visions

and cultural traditions. Artists create jewellery for adornment, ceremonies, and trade. Lois Sherr

Dubin writes, "[i]n the absence of written languages, adornment became an important element of

Indian [Native American] communication, conveying many levels of information." Later,

jewellery and personal adornment "...signaled resistance to assimilation. It remains a major

statement of tribal and individual identity."

Metalsmiths, beaders, carvers, and lapidaries combine a variety of metals, hardwoods, precious

and semi-precious gemstones, beadwork, quillwork, teeth, bones, hide, vegetal fibres, and other

materials to create jewellery. Contemporary Native American jewellery ranges from hand-

quarried and processed stones and shells to computer-fabricated steel and titanium jewellery.

Pacific

Jewellery making in the Pacific started later than in other areas because of recent human

settlement. Early Pacific jewellery was made of bone, wood, and other natural materials, and

thus has not survived. Most Pacific jewellery is worn above the waist, with headdresses,

necklaces, hair pins, and arm and waist belts being the most common pieces.


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Jewellery in the Pacific, with the exception of Australia, is worn to be a symbol of either fertility

or power. Elaborate headdresses are worn by many Pacific cultures and some, such as the

inhabitants of Papua New Guinea, wear certain headdresses once they have killed an enemy.

Tribesman may wear boar bones through their noses.

Island jewellery is still very much primal because of the lack of communication with outside

cultures. Some areas of Borneo and Papua New Guinea are yet to be explored by Western

nations. However, the island nations that were flooded with Western missionaries have had

drastic changes made to their jewellery designs. Missionaries saw any type of tribal jewellery as

a sign of the wearer's devotion to paganism. Thus many tribal designs were lost forever in the

mass conversion to Christianity.

Australia is now the number one supplier of opals in the world. Opals had already been mined in

Europe and South America for many years prior, but in the late 19th century, the Australian opal

market became predominant. Australian opals are only mined in a few select places around the

country, making it one the most profitable stones in the Pacific.

The New Zealand Mori traditionally had a strong cul ture of personal adornment,most famously

the hei-tiki. Hei-tikis are traditionally carved by hand from bone, nephrite, or bowenite.

Nowadays a wide range of such traditionally inspired items such as bone carved pendants based

on traditional fishhooks hei matau and other greenstone jewellery are popular with young New

Zealanders of all backgrounds for whom they relate to a generalized sense of New Zealand

identity. These trends have contributed towards a worldwide interest in traditional Mori culture

and arts.

Other than jewellery created through Mori influence, modern jewellery in New Zealand is

multicultural and varied.

jewellery in world

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