Earring
Unknown Artist
6th–7th century
Medium
Silver, traces of gilding, glass paste or garnet (?)
Dimensions
Overall: 1 5/8 x 1 3/16 x 5/8 in. (4.2 x 3 x 1.6 cm) bead: 9/16 x 5/8 in. (1.4 x 1.6 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Silver
Culture
Frankish
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.192.115
Art Historical Context
This delicate Frankish earring, crafted in the 6th–7th century during the Merovingian period, exemplifies the exquisite metalwork of early medieval Europe. Made of silver with traces of gilding and inlaid with glass paste or possibly garnet, it measures just 1 5/8 x 1 3/16 x 5/8 inches overall, including a small bead (9/16 x 5/8 inches). Donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1917 by J. Pierpont Morgan, it now resides in the Medieval Art department, highlighting the artistry of an unknown craftsman from the Frankish culture that dominated what is now France and Germany. Frankish jewelry...