Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A pair of antique gold cherub earrings, probably Hellenistic period, the wire hoops suspending realistically modelled winged cherub drops, representing Eros the god of love, cherub length 16mm. £300-£500

Eros, the god of love was a popular motif for earrings throughout the Hellenistic period, from the late 4th to the late 2nd century BC, across the Hellenised world. Daniella Mascetti notes that as the the period progressed emphasis on the human figure became so pronounced that earlier designs of earrings evolved into the form of an Eros figure suspended from the earlobe by means of a hook of gold wire, which we see here.

See: Mascetti D. and Triossi, A., Earrings, from antiquity to present, Thames and Hudson, London, 1990.