Jewellery from Werner Forman Archive

Werner Forman Archive press release – July 30, 2019

Werner Forman Archive archive holds a lot of pictures of jewellery of many kinds, both for personal adornment, and symbolic or religious purposes.

The collage above show a few nice pieces from the collection.

• A pendant from the tomb of Tutankhamun in the form of a ‘Wedjat eye’, symbol of protection, flanked by the vulture goddess, Nekhbet and the snake goddess Wadjet, protectors of Upper & Lower Egypt. Culture: Ancient Egyptian. Date/Period: 18th dynasty c.1336-1327BC Material: Gold, semi-precious stones.
• Tubular gold torque which was probably a votive object. Probably the earliest known example of a specifically Irish style. Country of Origin: Ireland. Culture: Celtic Date/Period: 1st C BC. Material: gold
• Thor’s hammer amulet. Illustrates how Christian symbolism was gradually incorporated into Viking artifacts. Country of Origin: Iceland. Culture: Viking. Date/Period: 10th C. Material: bronze
• Three gold finger rings. Country of Origin: Ghana. Culture: Ashanti. Material: Gold.

This is just a tiny selection from Werner Forman Archive’s pandora’s box of images.

Picture credit: ©Werner Forman Archive