Macedonian Bronze Armlet

Culture: Macedonian

Period: 7th-6th century B.C.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 13.4 cm in diameter

Price: 2 800 Euro

Ref: 2666

Provenance: French collection Georges O. (1927-2013). Thence in the family estate.

Condition: Intact

Description: Heavy, solidly worked out bronze armlet dating to the Macedonian Iron Age. The flat ends with tapering edges are overlapping. The richly decorated outer surface has an angular central ridge, while the inner surface of the rim is smooth and slightly concave. The incised and dotted decoration shows five diced eyes on the flat ends. The outside is decorated with hatched lozenges, bands and triangles, as well as punched circles. The armlet belongs to the so-called Macedonian bronzes, which were found particularly in tombs of women of the upper class from the northwestern Aegean to the central Balkans. They depict strong influences from the Hallstatt culture of Central Europe. See for the type the armlets of tomb 111 in Milci-Gevgelija in southeastern North Macedonia, which the deceased still held on her arm. Another example is today in the Metropolitan Museum of Art with the object number 1998.25.