BRAMA, October 21, 2000, 10:00pm EDT

© 1999 The Walters Art Gallery BOAT EARRINGS WITH PENDANTS Catalogue #129 4th c., Gold From Kurhan 8, burial z, near village of Volchans'ke, Akymivs'kyi Raion, ZaporizhSka Oblast'. UKRAINE The earring pendants are hollow boats decorated with braided filigree and granulated triangles. On the horns of the boats, a row of granules and spiral wrapped wire precedes duck-shaped finials and long hoops. From loops soldered on the body of the boats dangle eight or ten loop-in-loop chains with duck-shaped pendants. These, like the finials, are formed of two stamped halves, with granules along the seam and forming the eye. Boat-shaped earrings begin appearing in Scythian graves from the fifth century, after ties had been established with the Greek colonies along the Black Sea. The type was especially popular in the fourth centu ry, and a number of distinct variations are known. A pair similar to this one was found in Novosilky, Kurhar 4, in Cherkas'ka Oblast'. Compared to their Greek prototypes these earrings are larger and heavier, and the pendants are of exaggerated length and number. When worn the earrings would have responded to the Scythian predilection for movement and sound. This pair was found in the burial of a Scythian woman, along with a splendid gold necklace and a headdress richly decorated with gold plaques.

MORE ABOUT SCYTHIAN GOLD   · Oct 21 00 - (Lead Article) Scythian gold from ancient Ukraine arrives in Brooklyn · Were Scythians the earliest Ukrainians? · Scythia and Scythians, from the Encyclopedia of Ukraine · SCYTHIAN GOLD: Lecture The Ukrainian Museum (9/22/00) · The Walters Gallery press release (3/1/00)   BMA Link · Brooklyn Museum of Art   CATALOG · Oct 21 00 - Scythian Gold: treasures from ancient Ukraine - CATALOG   Images from the exhibition · Oct 21 00 - Scythian Gold: Earrings · Oct 21 00 - Scythian Gold: Cup with Horses · Oct 21 00 - Scythian Gold: Pectoral   Links to other sources · Scythian Vocabulary and Names · Scythian religious terms · The Hungarian Legend of the Wondrous Stag · Scythian-Sarmat Ancestors of Balkarians and Karachais

Scythian Gold: treasures from ancient Ukraine ed. Ellen Reeder 352 pp., color. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York 1999 © 1999 The Walters Art Gallery ISBN 0-8109-4476-6 (Hard cover) - $60.00 ISBN 0-8108-2938-4 (paperback) - $32.95 Telephone orders: 718-638-5000 x576

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