Long gold chain made of hammered gold wires linked in an interlacing loop-in-loop pattern. The two ends both terminate in the form of a double link ornamented with coiled wire. Attached to one terminal is a shepherd’s hook clasp formed of coiled wire, possibly a later replacement. The necklace is in good, wearable condition.

 

United Kingdom, London private collection, acquired before 1970; Art Loss Register certification #S00109412 issued on January 11, 2016.

With the expansion of the Empire, increased trade and newly acquired wealth, Roman ladies of high society flaunted their gold jewelry. Women wore chains of varying lengths, often adorned with amulets or interspersed with gemstones such as emeralds, amethysts, and garnets.

 

The Roman historian Livy (56 BC – 17 CE) recounts the Lex Oppia, a law enacted in 215 BC to restrict the weight of gold used in jewelry and to curb the ostentatious display of luxury. Enforcement, however, proved impractical, and the law was soon abolished. As wealth grew, so too did the opulence of personal adornment: the more affluent the family, the more lavish the jewels displayed in public. In his Naturalis Historia, Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) famously accused Lollia Paulina – a wealthy Roman noblewoman and later consort of Emperor Caligula – of appearing overdressed at an “ordinary betrothal banquet,” adorned excessively with gold, gemstones, and pearls.

 

Symbolic of status and fortune in Roman society, jewelry reflected a woman’s social standing – most clearly in the quantity and quality of the pieces included in her dowry. As treasured heirlooms, Roman jewels were passed down from one generation to the next. They retained their intrinsic value and, for women, served as a form of financial security in the event of widowhood or divorce. For men, the size and splendor of a bride’s dowry could influence or even determine their position in society.

 

For variants of the present chain type, dating from the first to the third century CE, see examples in the Antikensammlung Berlin (Adolf Greifenhagen, Schmuckarbeiten in Edelmetall, Staatliche Museen Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz Antikenabteilung, 2 vols, Berlin 1970, vol. II, nos. 1-5); Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz (Barbara Deppert-Lippitz,, Goldschmuck der Römerzeit im Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum Mainz, Bonn 1985, no. 3); Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (Lucia PirzioBiroli Stefanelli, L’oro dei Romani, Rome 1992, figs. 74, 75,77); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Object no. 17.190.1718).

 

For fashion and jewelry types worn during the Roman period, see: Gesa Schenke, Schein und Sein. Schmuckgebrauch in der römischen Kaiserzeit, Louvain-Dudley 2003 (chains pp. 32-42). For chain-making techniques in Antiquity, see: exh. cat. Tony Hackens & Ralf Winkes, Gold Jewelry Craft Style and Meaning in Mycenae to Constantinopole, Louvain-la-Neuve 1983)