EGYPTIAN REVIVAL jewelry wasn’t concerned with respectfully (or even truthfully) depicting foreign culture - it was more about VIBES. My favorite pieces walk the line between silly and sublime, like these earrings. Silver gilt sphinxes suspend faience drops, a material associated with ancient Egypt for over 4000 years. Made from ground quartz and coated in a self-glazing surface, faience was famous for its blue-green color. Victorian and Edwardian jewelers used it to evoke the lush ancient world.
MATERIALS: gilt silver, crimson, yellow & blue enamel, faience beads
AGE: c. 1900
CONDITION: Very good
SIZE: 2 1/2" length measured from the top of the ear wire, 5/8" at the widest point