ROMAN GOLD BRACELET WITH INLAY - FULL ANALYSIS

Ca. 100-300 AD. Roman. A beautiful, wearable gold bracelet composed of solid ovoid gold beads and a round bezel with blue inlay. Both terminals are shaped as triangles decorated with concentric incised circles and feature a simple hook clasp. Excellent condition. The item has undergone X-ray fluorescence analysis to confirm the metallurgical content suggesting its ancient origin and lack of modern trace elements. It also comes with a gemological and historical report by an independent specialist Anna Rogers. Bracelets were part of the feminine costume in the Roman world and were used both for aesthetic purposes and to communicate social messages of status and wealth. Some examples can be seen faithfully illustrated, for instance, in the female painted mummy portraits from Roman Egypt; ancient sculptures too sometimes show bejewelled women of the Roman period - see, for instance, the splendid series of carved reliefs from the city of Palmyra, in modern Syria. To find out more about Roman bracelets and jewellery production in general, see Higgins, R. (1980). Greek and Roman jewellery. London: Methuen.Size: L:90mm / W:90mm ; 22g. Provenance: From the collection of a gentleman based in London; formerly in a private collection (North America) formed in the 1980s.