The lively design of our Lion's Head Bracelet is based on one of a pair of original Cypriot bracelets from around 450-400 B.C., now in the Museum's collection. Originally crafted in gold with a copper-alloy core, the bracelet features an elaborate lion's head on each end. The bracelet can easily be twisted on or off the wrist due to a centuries old technique employed by artisans that produces greater flexibility. Sterling silver and silver overlay. Inner circumference: 7''L x 1/2"W.
- Sterling silver and silver overlay
- Inner circumference: 7''L, 1/2"W
For more than 2,000 years, Cyprus has been a way station for ships circulating around the eastern Mediterranean. The exposure of Cypriot craftsmen to foreign artistic styles from both East and West is reflected in the distinctive hybrid forms of jewellery that, by the Classical period (475-325 B.C.), represent an amalgam of Greek, Near Eastern, and indigenous styles. Classical Cypriot jewellery is particularly notable for its high level of execution, as seen in objects excavated in great numbers at burial sites in the major cities of Kourion, Amathus, and Enkomi. As far back as the late Fourth Millennium B.C., the lion has symbolised power, and from the Sixth Century B.C. on, lion heads became a popular motif on jewellery in various parts of the Greek world.