Necklaces of Egyptian Queens
Hi everyone. I have been looking for inspirations for a new blog post. And a few days ago, looking at Pinterest I have noticed two incredible Egyptian necklaces. Immediately I thought that would be a nice topic since a lot of my handmade Egyptian themed statement necklaces were influenced by similar ancient masterpieces.
So here it is. The first necklace that inspired this blog. It is from Kunst Historishen Museum, It dates between 1500-1200 BC from the New Kingdom era of ancient Egypt.
The second necklace is made out of gold and emerald. It is from the Ptolemaic-period, about 204-30 BC. The photo is from the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery.
And these two are my designs all inspired by Ancient Egyptian jewelry creation that are handmade by me. These exquisite necklaces have many charms that are true to original Egyptian artifacts. These charms can be identified as the Eye of Horus (a.k.a. Eye of Ra or Wedjat), scarabs, reproduction seals with hieroglyphs, God Bes, sphinx and a fly. Including the handmade clasp, they are made out of Sterling silver or brass that is gold plated and set in Sterling silver. Gemstones accompany these unique charms. I have used crimson red and forest green agates, unakite, deep blue lapis lazuli, ancient sea glass, vibrant purple amethyst and miniature jade beads. I think these gemstones enhance the presence of symbols of royalty and power and further accent these luxurious Egyptian necklaces.
I love Ancient Egyptian jewelry because it is simply magnificent. Being one of the most advanced civilizations of their time, Egyptians had access to all kinds of resources and wealth required to make exceptional jewelry. The royalty demanded one-of-a kind lavish items over mass produced creations. So they were true connoisseurs of handmade products by great masters. These masters mainly used gold in their creations because it was very valuable and easy to work with . For the general public copper was the metal of choice by the jewelry makers. Both metals were mined locally, whereas silver was not readily available as a resource therefore it is seldom found among the ancient artifacts.
Ancient Egyptian Jewelry often featured today's semi-precious (in fact precious for their time) gemstones along with glazed designs and sometimes ordinary glass beads to replace gemstones. Turquoise, lapis lazuli (generally imported), quartz, garnet, beryl, breccia, feldspar, carnelian, emeralds, pearls and opsidian were widely used as gemstones.
Jewelry in ancient Egypt was used for religious and ceremonial purposes as well as for adornment. Funerary beliefs dictated that mummified bodies must be adorned with the finest jewelry and luxury products. Of course for nobles sky was the limit whereas for the common folk after life accessories were more modest. Typical Egyptian jewelry are rings, bangles, bracelets, collars which featured beads and Godly symbols (Eye of Horus), scarabs, and animal figures to name a few.
This is all for now. Hope to see you in another blog soon!
