Achaemenid Silver Bracelet w/ Incised Banded Terminals

Near East, Persia, Achaemenid Empire. A penannular bracelet hammered and worked from a high-grade silver alloy (assayed at 82.7% silver), its round-sectioned hoop swelling gently toward a pair of open terminals. Each end is dressed with tight bands of incised ribbing, a collar of parallel grooves that breaks the smooth run of the metal and catches the light where the wrist turns. Further single incised lines mark the lower shoulders, dividing the hoop into measured registers. The open form allowed the cuff to be sprung onto the arm and worn snug, a construction favored across the Achaemenid world for personal ornament that doubled as portable wealth. Faint green mineral staining across the surface points to burial and to trace copper in the alloy. A small-scale ornament, likely made for a child or for a slender adult wrist. Silver held a particular administrative weight in the Achaemenid Empire. Under Darius I the imperial economy ran on a bimetallic standard, the gold daric paired with the silver siglos, and satrapal tribute was reckoned in talents of silver melted into ingots for the treasury. Personal ornament sat comfortably inside that logic: bracelets, torques, and armlets were simultaneously adornment, rank marker, and stored bullion, which is why so much Achaemenid metalwork survives with alloy contents that fall short of pure silver. The Apadana reliefs at Persepolis show delegation after delegation bearing exactly this kind of open-ended hoop, carried in the hands as tribute rather than worn, a reminder that the line between jewelry and currency was deliberately thin. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 204545

Estimate:$225

View all items fromArtemis Fine ArtsorJewelry & Gems