GENERAL DESCRIPTION
A baule or a bauletto means "little bag," and this Etruscan earring type earned its Italian name from its resemblance to a valise. An Etruscan design of the 6th century BCE, the basic form consists of a broad strip of gold bent into three-quarters of a cylinder. The two ends of the strip are joined by a wire or narrow band, which attached the cylinder to the ear. This wire is usually masked from the front by a decorative extension. The surfaces of the cylinder that were visible when the earring was worn are elaborately decorated. The hidden side is usually left plain or is less carefully decorated. These differences make it clear whether an earring was meant to be worn on the right ear or the left.
Adapted from
Barbara Deppert-Lippitz, Ancient Gold Jewelry at the Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art in association with the University of Washington Press, 1996), 35; 124.
NOTES
READ
- updated provenance and geo x refs
- added publication as a text entry
- cut: Each piece of this pair consists of a partial cylinder and a semicircular extension. One side of the cylinder is closed with a disk decorated partly in openwork and partly in filigree with a double palmette and an applied rosette. Piece "A" is closed on the ride side, piece "B" on the left. Two rows of twisted wires framed by plain ones form an outer border. The main decorative feature of the semicircular extensions is a crouching sphinx rendered in repoussé. Hemispherical bosses and an undulating, high-relief ribbon of gold wire frame the sphix above, and more bosses form a base below. Some of these bosses have a single granule placed on top. The font of the cylinder is divided into six square compartments, arranged 3 across and framed by undulating ribbons. The single compartments alternately contain a quatrefoil rosette and a granulated boss. The back is simply decorated with lines of fine wire and two rows of filigree circlets. Traces of the silver hinge pin exist.
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PROVENANCE
Until 1991: probably Collection of Dr. Athos Moretti, Switzerland (presented by Robert Haber, New York) [1]
From 1991: Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc.
[1] based on existing provenance entry in TMS
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FUN FACTS
- Jewelry was far more than merely ornament to the Etruscans; it was often close to being a magic charm or amulet and implied the protection of the gods.
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Apply to objects where number equals 1991.75.14.a-b
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General Description
A baule or a bauletto means "little bag," and this Etruscan earring type earned its Italian name from its resemblance to a valise. An Etruscan design of the 6th century BCE, the basic form consists of a broad strip of gold bent into three-quarters of a cylinder. The two ends of the strip are joined by a wire or narrow band, which attached the cylinder to the ear. This wire is usually masked from the front by a decorative extension. The surfaces of the cylinder that were visible when the earring was worn are elaborately decorated. The hidden side is usually left plain or is less carefully decorated. These differences make it clear whether an earring was meant to be worn on the right ear or the left.
Adapted from
Barbara Deppert-Lippitz, Ancient Gold Jewelry at the Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art in association with the University of Washington Press, 1996), 35; 124.
Fun Facts
- Jewelry was far more than merely ornament to the Etruscans; it was often close to being a magic charm or amulet and implied the protection of the gods.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
READ
- updated provenance and geo x refs
- added publication as a text entry
- cut: Each piece of this pair consists of a partial cylinder and a semicircular extension. One side of the cylinder is closed with a disk decorated partly in openwork and partly in filigree with a double palmette and an applied rosette. Piece "A" is closed on the ride side, piece "B" on the left. Two rows of twisted wires framed by plain ones form an outer border. The main decorative feature of the semicircular extensions is a crouching sphinx rendered in repoussé. Hemispherical bosses and an undulating, high-relief ribbon of gold wire frame the sphix above, and more bosses form a base below. Some of these bosses have a single granule placed on top. The font of the cylinder is divided into six square compartments, arranged 3 across and framed by undulating ribbons. The single compartments alternately contain a quatrefoil rosette and a granulated boss. The back is simply decorated with lines of fine wire and two rows of filigree circlets. Traces of the silver hinge pin exist.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1991: probably Collection of Dr. Athos Moretti, Switzerland (presented by Robert Haber, New York) [1]
From 1991: Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc.
[1] based on existing provenance entry in TMS
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1991.75.14.a-b
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