Roman Pearl Pendant Earrings from The Met Museum

Our fashionable jewelry celebrates a pair of ancient gold earrings in The Met collection. The originals were made in the first century A.D, during the Early Imperial period of ancient Rome. This type of earring was known as crotalia (from the Greek word for rattle or castanets) because the pearl pendants would produce a jingling noise when worn. Earrings of this type were extremely popular with ancient Roman ladies, and numerous examples have been found at Pompeii and Herculaneum.