A pair of simple drop earrings, nothing too fancy but with plain elgant black glass drops which contrast brilliantly with the silvery metalwork.
A brief history
In Mesopotamia earrings have been found that are nearly 5000 years old. The earliest earrings seem to be have been made of gold, silver and bronze. The Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s body had ear piercings, although Howard Carter found no earrings in his tomb. This supports a theory that in Ancient Egypt only children wore earrings. The same was true in the days when Carter was working there. Minoan excavations in Santorini and Crete unearthed metal hoop earrings. The Ancient Greeks raised the art to a high level but I doubt that Heinrich Slieman ever said “I have looked upon the face of Agamemnon and admired his earrings”. Biblical sources too, talk of earrings as early as the Book of Exodus (chapter 32), when Aaron ask for people to bring their children’s earrings to him.
The wearing of earrings only became a predominantly female preserve in the middle ages. In contrast to the UK where men have always been free to wear earrings, Japanese men were banned from wearing them in the mid-19th century.
A Pearl Earring
Perhaps the most famous earring in the world is that pearl one in the painting by Johannes Vermeer produced in the 1660s. There’s a lot I would love to say about Vermeer and my appreciation of his fantastic artworks but I’ll resist the temptation… other than to say that I think he used a camera obsura to execute this painting. Art Historians say that this was the case with many of his paintings which is why they appear very similar. Vermeer lived in Delft, which remains a beautiful town, much of which remains as it was in his own time.
Kardashian Capers
My daughters tell me that another famous earring is the $75,000 diamond one that Kim Kardashian lost whilst swimmig and her sister, Kylie, miraculously found on the seabed some time later. One wonders at value of the fantastic publicity this piece of bad luck attracted and the serendipitous recovery. More, presumably, than $75,000 that was nearly lost.
Important Places
The different locations for ear piercings each have names. In the lobe at the front of the ear (or Crus of the helix) you would wear a tragus. A conch, for example, is worn around the centre of the ear whereas a daith is worn in the centre of the ear. For most people the lobe is the most popular place to wear an earring. You can learn more about earrings, the positioning of earrings and the many names for the locations, here.
As well as this pair of earrings, see the range of Earrings available at Abrahams Store, here.
Please note that for health reasons we cannot accept earrings or earstuds as return items.
