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34 subcategories
Afghan

AFGHAN

American Indians

AMERICAN INDIANS

Anglo-Saxon, Irish

ANGLO-SAXON, IRISH

Antiquities Oriental

ANTIQUITIES ORIENTAL

Austria

AUSTRIA

Byzantine

BYZANTINE

Campana Collection

CAMPANA COLLECTION

Coins

COINS

Denmark

DENMARK

Egypt

EGYPT

Etruscan

ETRUSCAN

France

FRANCE

Germany

GERMANY

Gundestrup Cauldron

GUNDESTRUP CAULDRON

Hallstatt

HALLSTATT

Helladic

HELLADIC

Hellenistic

HELLENISTIC

India

INDIA

Israel

ISRAEL

Korean

KOREAN

Locations

LOCATIONS

Malta

MALTA

Merovingan

MEROVINGAN

Mesopotamia

MESOPOTAMIA

Minoan

MINOAN

Mycenaean

MYCENAEAN

Neolithic

NEOLITHIC

Oxus Treasure

OXUS TREASURE

Partian and Sassanid

PARTIAN AND SASSANID

Rome

ROME

Scythian

SCYTHIAN

Susa

SUSA

Syria

SYRIA

Thracian

THRACIAN

967 photos
Silver handle from the Capheaton treasure, Roman Britain, 2nd or 3rd century AD. This incomplete handle with gilded details features the goddess Minerva above a temple which is set close by a water-source. A figure makes an offering before the temple. The scene is highly reminiscent of the precinct of Sulis Minerva at Bath. The fragments of highly decorated silver vessels that make up the Capheaton treasure were found in 1747, at Capheaton, Northumberland. They may be treasure from a temple. The decoration is purely Roman, and depicts religious and mythological subjects. P&EE, 1824.4-89.59-65
#03050449

Silver handle from the Capheaton treasure, Roman Britain, 2nd or 3rd century AD....

Gold belt buckle fom the ship-burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, early 7th century. It is hollow and made in two parts joined by a hinge. The master-craftsman who made it devised a locking system involving a complex system of sliders and internal rods which fit into slotted fixings. These fill the interior leaving little space for the safe storage of a relic, a function which has been suggested for such hollow, high-status buckles. The surface of the buckle and the tongue plate are decorated with writhing snakes and intertwining four legged beasts. Their bodies are highlighted with punched ornament filled with black niello. At the toe of the buckle, two animals gently hold a tiny dog-like creature in their gaping jaws. On the shoulders are two birds' heads with cruel, curving beaks (perhaps a reference to Odin, a god from Norse mythology). The metal and decoration of these buckles reflected the wealth and status of their owners. M&ME, 1939,10-10,1
#03050460

Gold belt buckle fom the ship-burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, early 7th century....

Gold disc pendant decorated with filigree and garnet inlay, Anglo-Saxon, early 7th century. From Acklam Wold, near Acklam, North Yorkshire. This is one of the largest and finest of many surviving Anglo-Saxon disc pendants. Disc pendants have been found across Anglo-Saxon England and reflect the increasing uniformity of fashion across the developing Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. They were often decorated with cross motifs, suggesting a growing awareness of Christianity among the general population in the seventh century. The pendant demonstrates a range of jewellery techniques. In the centre a shell boss in a dog-tooth bezel is set with a central garnet. Garnets with shell collars are typical of high-status belt-buckles and disc-brooches from the period. Four V-shaped 'cross' arms linking the central bezel to the rim were fashioned in pseudo-plaited wire. Four garnet cabochons are set between the arms. The V-shaped and semi-circular wires are formed of triple strands of beaded filigree wire. Although relatively simple to execute, the wire decoration creates a rich and glittering surface.
#03050461

Gold disc pendant decorated with filigree and garnet inlay, Anglo-Saxon, early 7...

Shrine boss, Irish, first half of the 8th century. This once sumptuously decorated boss was cast in bronze and then thickly gilded. The decoration consists of complex animal interlace, and trumpet and spiral decoration with panels containing twenty-four settings, now all empty, which held glass, crystal or amber giving the boss a rich glittering appearance. Four highly stylized lions crouching on the sides divide it into quarters. A ring of black niello frames plain gold troughs once filled with panels of filigree, surrounding a big hole where a large setting once lay. The exceptional decoration and casting put it at the pinnacle of Irish art. It would originally have been attached to a shrine, along with four others, to form a cross-shape. It was apparently found in a church at Steeple Bumpstead, Essex, during construction work, stored in a chest and then for years used as a handle to the chancel door where it was noted in 1842. M&ME, 1916,7-5,1
#03050463

Shrine boss, Irish, first half of the 8th century. This once sumptuously decorat...

The Londesborough Brooch, Irish, 8th-9th century. The Londesborough brooch is unusual in that all its fine decoration is cast and no filigree was used. The brooch is a heavy silver ring cast with complex patterns of interlace, spirals, animal and bird motifs and then thickly gilded on the front. Seven circular amber settings on the hoop compliment the gold. The pin was made from three pieces and the head is decorated in a style to match the hoop, with a large domed boss and amber at its centre. Two L-shaped fields at the top corners once held blue glass. The back of the brooch is also decorated with amber and has as well two inset gilt-bronze discs with Celtic triskeles. M&ME, 1888,7-19,101
#03050466

The Londesborough Brooch, Irish, 8th-9th century. The Londesborough brooch is un...

The Strickland Brooch, Anglo-Saxon, mid-9th century. Plain gold panels enrich a lively pattern of dog-like animals with collars, deeply carved to form an openwork effect. The quatrefoil is divided by animal heads and raised bosses. The arms of the central cruciform (cross-shaped) motif, with another boss at its centre, end with four identical heads at the edge. The Anglo-Saxon love of colour and light is clear from the black niello inlay and blue glass eyes which make the decoration stand out. Small dots punched into some areas give it a sparkling appearance. Gold was scarce and highly prized at the time. This style, called 'Trewhiddle' after a Cornish hoard, is typical of fine Anglo-Saxon metalwork of the ninth century. The brooch, which could also be worn as a pendant, is named after the Strickland family of Yorkshire, and may have belonged to Sir William Strickland, a keen collector of antiquities in the nineteenth century. M&ME, 1949,7-2,1
#03050467

The Strickland Brooch, Anglo-Saxon, mid-9th century. Plain gold panels enrich a...

Gold amphora-rhyton with centaur handles on each side (3rd BCE). Panagyurishte Golden Treasure. See also 12-01-01/19
#03050625

Gold amphora-rhyton with centaur handles on each side (3rd BCE). Panagyurishte...

Gold jewelery (crown necklace, earrings, pins) from a burial chamber at the necropolis of Sindos (Important archaic era cemetery near Thessalonike, with 121 graves excavated, which has yielded some remarkable finds, some of which are reminiscent of Mycenaean artifacts, particularly the gold death masks); 560 BCE.
#03050626

Gold jewelery (crown necklace, earrings, pins) from a burial chamber at the necr...

Gold tablet with inscription in Etruscan; 6th century BCE.
#03050648

Gold tablet with inscription in Etruscan; 6th century BCE.

Ceremonial adze,from Baktria,Northern Afghanistan; end 3rd,beginning 2nd Mill.BCE. Silver and gold,maximum length 12,68 cm
#030701 2

Ceremonial adze,from Baktria,Northern Afghanistan; end 3rd,beginning 2nd Mi...

Gold jug from the Oxus treasure, Achaemenid Persian, 5th-4th century BC. Fine gold jug with a lion-headed handle and ridged decoration. The jug is part of the Oxus treasure, the most important collection of silver and gold to have survived from the Achaemenid period. The treasure, probably from a temple on the banks of the Oxus River, Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan, contained objects such as this jug which were dedicated to the temple. Another possibilty is that the Oxus treasure should be viewed as a hoard of currency. There was a long tradition in the ancient Middle East of using precious metal, gold and particularly silver, for purposes of exchange. Goods - even when finely wrought - were valued according to the weight of metal. Metal continued to be used for currency even after the introduction of coinage. ANE, 123918
#03070151

Gold jug from the Oxus treasure, Achaemenid Persian, 5th-4th century BC. Fine go...

Gold model chariot from the Oxus treasure, Achaemenid Persian, from the region of Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan, 5th-4th century BC. This remarkable model is one of the most outstanding pieces in the Oxus treasure, which dates mainly from the 5th and 4th centuries BC, and is the most important surviving collection of gold and silver to have survived from the Achaemenid period. The model chariot is pulled by four horses or ponies. In it are two figures wearing Median dress. The Medes were from Iran, the centre of the Achaemenid empire. The front of the chariot is decorated with the Egyptian dwarf-god Bes, a popular protective deity. ANE, 123908
#03070152

Gold model chariot from the Oxus treasure, Achaemenid Persian, from the region o...