Ancient, Wearable Works of Art

Creating quality jewelry is an art that not many are skilled art. People sport jewelry that falls into the “wearable work of art” category to showcase their unique style and personality. Some artisans are exceptionally good at crafting designer jewelry. A few famous jewelers include:

Mikimoto
Piaget
Chanel
Graff
Van Cleef and Arpels
Cartier
Harry Winston

While many of these designers are household names today, thousands of years ago they were unheard of. Jewelry designers were lesser known by name in ancient times, but their work could be seen prominently displayed on the arms, fingers, toes, and wrists of men and women alike. Google Arts and Culture’s article about “ancient bling” describes dozens of rings from ancient times. Here are a few that stood out to us:

Late Roman ring — Sometime between 250 and 400, a unique Late Roman ring was crafted by an unknown artisan. “A carnelian intaglio with a representation of Mercury set in an oval bezel decorates this ring. The intaglio, which is older than the setting, was reused from an earlier period.” See the ring here.

Gold ring set with a carnelian — It is unknown when this ring, which was carved in a scarab form, was crafted. The Egyptian work of art is part of the Freer Gallery of Art collection. View the wearable work of art here.

Cameo gem ring — Cameos have been popular since ancient times. In an unknown year between 25 B.C. and 25 A.D., a cameo gem ring was created that is particularly stunning. “The cameo may be derived from a statue of Perseus carved in the 400s B.C. by Myron. Cameos were popular among the Romans and frequently reproduced Greek sculpture. Gold rings of this form with an oval bezel were also popular,” stated Google. See the ring here.

See many more incredible “ancient bling” rings in Google Arts and Culture’s article.

It would be fascinating to know more about the designers of these rings as well as their motivation for crafting the wearable works of art. For now we will just have to use our imaginations for that purpose.

Some consider beautifully designed jewelry to be wearable art. This is certainly true of the ancient rings described above. Do you own a ring or other piece of jewelry that you feel is a true piece of art?