Necklace
Unknown Artist
ca. 1000 BCE
Medium
Copper alloy
Dimensions
Overall: 8 x 5 5/16 x 3/8 in. (20.3 x 13.5 x 1 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Bronze
Culture
Irish
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.125.3
Art Historical Context
This exquisite necklace, crafted around 1000 BCE by an Irish artisan, exemplifies the sophisticated metalworking traditions of Bronze Age Ireland. Fashioned from copper alloy—a material akin to bronze—this delicate piece measures 8 x 5 5/16 x 3/8 inches (20.3 x 13.5 x 1 cm), highlighting the precision achieved in ancient casting and hammering techniques. Such adornments were not mere jewelry but symbols of status, worn by elites during a time when Ireland's metalworkers produced some of Europe's finest bronze artifacts. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Medieval Art Department (acqui...