Each composed of a finely carved garnet bead in the form of a Black African male head with short incised hair, strung with double gold wire connected above and below...
Each composed of a finely carved garnet bead in the form of a Black African male head with short incised hair, strung with double gold wire connected above and below to a tapering thick loop of twisted wire, the ear hook curving back on itself to form an s-shape.
Nasli Heeramaneck (1902 - 1971) Collection, New York, acquired in the 1960s
Literature
This type of garnet pendant in the form of the head of a Black African male, originates from Greece, and most date from the later Hellenistic period. There is a pair of similar earrings in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, acc. no. 57.1562-3. There is also a related pair of Etruscan amber head earrings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 95.15.216, .217