Pair of gold, garnet, enamel, and glass earrings

2nd century BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 163
The earrings have terminals representing the head of Apis, the sacred Egyptian bull, identified by the sun disk and crescent set between his horns. In Ptolemaic Egypt, the cult of Apis was combined with that of Osiris to create a new Greco-Egyptian deity, Sarapis.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pair of gold, garnet, enamel, and glass earrings
  • Period: Hellenistic
  • Date: 2nd century BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Ptolemaic
  • Medium: Gold, garnet, enamel, glass
  • Dimensions: Overall: 1 15/16 x 1 9/16in. (5 x 4cm)
  • Classification: Gold and Silver
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Bothmer Purchase Fund and Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1994
  • Object Number: 1994.230.8, .9
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.