[79] A Rare Large Ancient Danurian Celtic Woman’s Bronze Anklet Formed of Two Lost Wax Separately Cast Sections each made of Two Hollow Cubist Egg Shapes 3rd Century bc
s i z e : 10 cm high, 17 cm dia. – 4 ins high, 6¾ ins dia. p rov e na nc e : Ex Irish Private collection Acquired from Ward & Co Works of Art LLC, New York, U.S.A. 1990’s c f : A smaller example cast with three sections in Vienna Naturhistorisches Museum From the first half of the 3rd century bc onwards, anklets made from hollow egg shapes of distinct cubist appearance became the main item of jewellery denoting women of high status and rank among the Danubian Celts of Central Europe, and as the century progressed the anklets slowly developed into exaggerated oversized forms. It is often forgotten that for five centuries before Christianity the Celts made up the largest known family of European peoples outside the Mediterranean. This was a fact reported by the ancient Classical Greeks and Romans who describe the Celtic invasions into their territories, and who credit them occupying huge swathes of central Europe.