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Showcase: Ancient themes and artifact pendants
Ancient themes and museum artifact reproductions, hand-made from sterling silver. (click on items individually or view all museum artifact themed pendants)
This pendant MEASURES 1 & 1/4 INCHES ACROSS! and is hand made with quality to be enjoyed for a lifetime. The featured coin is a Lysimachos tetradrachm originally minted between 305-281 BC. Depicted is the head of Alexander the Great wearing the horn of Ammon. On the obverse, the virgin Goddess Athena is seated with Nike (victory) resting on her shield. The inscription reads "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ" (King Lysimachos). This is a reproduction of superb tetradrachm specimens found in the remarkable collection in the National Musuem of Greece.
The disc of Festos is classified by many as one of the most mysterious objects of all time.
The original artifact is a stone carving that can be seen in the Heraklion museum in Crete. It's size fits into a palm of a large male hand, it has captivated the mind and imagination of an unprecedented amount of researchers and remains an unsolved mystery.
The disc is considered particularly important as it was one of the very few valuable objects found in the very heart of the mighty Minoan civilsation from just before it's overnight destruction from a tidal wave (linked to the loss of Atlantis). When the palace was excavated, in crypt beneath the floor of Royal chamber of the palace of Festos was this disc, hidden from the public domain.
Some of the characters or 'glyphs' have been compared to Linear A and some resemble Egyptian hieroglyphs but apart from this resemblence the origin of the language is uncertain and incomparible to other known scripts.
Over the twentieth century there has been an endless list of archaeologists, linguists, anthropologists and even astronomers all of which have provided their own theorems for the disc's interpretation or intended function. Amongst the most interesting are the explanation of the disc being a very advanced form of ancient calendar, or a cosmic map in which elements inside the carved spiral mark the position of stars in our galaxy. Other theories link this artifact and language to the lost city of Atlantis.
The illuminating and yet detached glare of Athena's owl, a sacred symbol in ancient Greece has been magnificently captured and portrayed by our skilled craftsmen, specialized and distinguished in crafting reproductions representations of significant ancient, historical and religious artifacts and themes.
The significance of the owl was the virtue of Wisdom. It was usually depicted accompanying Goddess Athena (Roman Minerva), the all important virgin Goddess to whom perhaps the most significant shrine of classical antiquity, the Parthenon, was built in honor of. Her worship peaked during the golden age of Pericles 461 BC to 379 BC. It was during this inspiring age of wisdom that philosophy, architecture, medicine, theatre and the arts were first established as fabric to society to set grounds to an array of social fundaments as they are today, whilst the radical concept of 'democracy' was also first fostered.
The all knowing, never sleeping wise owl, inspired this progress and thereon became the embodiment of the creative wisdom of man, able to generate civilization in physical and spiritual realms. In tribute, it was depicted on various denominations of the tetradrachm in the 5th Century BC to reach every part of the known world and spread its important meaning. Today, more than 2 millenia later, this owl still has it's honorary place on the Greek 1 Euro coin.
Roman Reliquary Cross 9th Century A.D. (Byzantium, East Roman empire)
Full weight from Sterling Silver in re-mastered original 9th century condition.
This is possibly the only accurately researched and working reproduction of a Roman reliquary cross, created with such care and quality to comprise a fine jewel in its own right! This brilliant heavy silver sculpture has full working parts (notice the fine silver screw and suspension bails). It carries a powerful overall sensation of an original silver reliquary cross as it would have been in it's original condition in the 9th Century AD (with front, back and hinge mechanisms)
One face of the cross depicts the figure of Christ on the Cross in a uniquely byzantine engraving and the other depicts another byzantine figurative carving of Virgin Mary. Both carvings are true reproductions from outstanding 9th Century specimens from an original artifact curently hosted in the Byzantine Museum of Thessaloniki. The splendid re-mastered version was sculpted 70 years ago by the sellers grandfather who was a pioneering silversmith from Asia Minor (formerly Byzantium) while the original mould of this masterpiece proudly remains part of the sellers family heritage in jewelry.
This sterling silver reproduction is a fine representation of the gold bees of Malia which is displayed at the 'Heraklion' archaeological museum in Crete dating back more than 3800 years. The pendant depicts two bees storing away a drop of honey in a comb. This item constitutes one of the most important and renown specimens of minoan art and ancient jewelry making universaly.
The double-headed eagle of Lagash is the oldest known crest in the world. It was first seen as the emblem of the power of the ancient Sumerian city of Lagash. Since then it was used by an array of cultures and fraternities for a number of symbolic purposes. Amongst these I will note a few mentionned by Phil Elam, 32° Member, "Masonic Brotherhood of the Blue Forget-Me-Not" on the matter has been a most valuable source for this information.
* The symbol is said to have been in use as a heraldic emblem upto 1000 years before the Exodus from Egypt.
* Was a symbol of the Roman Imperial power and strength and particularly its division into 2 dominions- the East (Byzantium) and the West (Rome). The two heads facing in both directions idealised this power of unity and control.
* The emperors of Germany also used this symbol as they claimed their empire to be the representative of ancient Rome after Charlemagne.
* Seljuk Turkish Sultans adopted it from the emperors of Constantinople (Byzantium)
* Crusaders brought it to the emperors of East and West (whose successors are the Romanoffs and Hapsburgs)
* In 1758 it was first used by Freemasonry by a body that named itself The council of Emperors of East and West founded in Paris.
* Sign of the 'Sovereign Prince Masons of the Rite of Perfection' as of 1801 in Charleston USA.
* Crowned, it became the insignia of the supreme council 33°of the Ancient and Accepted (Scottish) Rite.
This is one of the most minimal and most ancient of the Cycladic figures.
The Cycladic statues were carved between 4500 BC and 2200 BC and found in the Cyclades (from which they take their name), this is the group of islands in the southwest Aegean including Santorini, Amorgos, Mykonos, Paros and Andros. Not much is known about this extremely ancient civilization or exactly why these sculptures were made. The subject of Cycladic sculpting was almost entirely human figures (and ..boats). The gender of the statues is usually ambiguous. Aesthetic approach and design appears profoundly contemporary and this is what has fascinated many appreciators of art and has brought enormous attention to the idols in the modern day. Perhaps these statues have justfuly fed arguments over man's the ever lasting fascination with spiritualism. Were these figures a very primitive form of expression or were they proof of an exceedingly mature form of art innate in the human mind throughout the ages?
Although Byzantium was originally founded as a Greek colony in 667 BC and named after the Greek King ‘Bizas’, the Byzantine Empire is the term used to describe the East Roman Empire (or Nova Roma) of which the capital was named Constantinople in 330 AD after Constantine the Great. From this point on until the capturing of Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottomans, the synthesis of classical Greek, Roman and Christianized Roman culture created unrivaled achievements in art, architecture and magnificent jewelry.
Byzantine Crosses were later borrowed by other cultures. From the time of the crusades, shortly after Byzantium, many cross designs were adopted emblematically by the knights templar. The classification of the most usual type of crosses used by the Knights templar and as other fraternal and masonic symbols is the 'cross patée'. (A cross which has narrow arms towards the center, that broader outwards towards the edges).
Most people associate the 'iron cross' to the Nazis, however it is an originally Byzantine cross patée design adopted by numerous organizations throught history
Entire workshop catalog of ancient Greek pendants larger view >>
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* Please note that for the purpose of coin jewelry, coin sizes and in order to offer size options, weights have been adapted from original coin denominations (eg. tetradrachm, didrachm)
**Coins are reproduction coins that are all hand-made in our work-shop from sterling silver. We do not deal, trade or associate ourselves with the trade of authentic ancient coins. If you are interested in original ancient coins, please first be advized that it is strictly against the law to purchase and export ancient artifacts from Greece.
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