Online The Met Store Cypriot Jade Crescent Hoop Earrings

Unique art jewelry inspired by The Met collection.

A remarkable gold-and-lapis earring (6th–5th century B.C.) in The Met’s Cesnola Collection of Cypriot art bears a robust crescent or “boat-shaped” design, presented here in green jade. Cyprus’s positioning as a way station for ships in the eastern Mediterranean is reflected in the diversity of the island’s jewelry. The boat shape was evidently popular in the ancient world; the Museum houses a number of Cypriot, Greek, Roman, and Etruscan earrings with a similar silhouette.