IRON AGE CELTIC DECORATED SILVER BRACELET

Ca. 500 - 300 BC.
A Celtic silver decorated bracelet. It has a flat band with engraved geometric decorations. The blacksmiths of ancient Thrace were renowned throughout the world because their extremely advanced techniques enabled them to cast a strong metal for weapons and a soft metal for jewellery. They preferred to use gold and silver with which they made extremely refined precious objects decorated with geometric patterns. The use of gem-setting, on the other hand, took second place because, according to the oriental Steppe culture, pure metal such as gold and silver was a gift from the gods and the earth, and working with it was considered an honor and a privilege. This jewellery was worn by the upper classes, but especially by warriors and women.
Size: 75mm x 45mm; Weight: 75g
Provenance: Private UK collection; from an old British collection formed in the 1990s.