Sassain Woman's Jewelry, 600 AD

Odkatla needed an angel for one of the past rounds of the AEthelmearc Artisan's Exchange, and since my gift was done and I was sitting out the next round, I was glad to step in.  The artisan's exchange is an opportunity to learn about cultures and times I may never otherwise have known existed, and this was certainly the case with the angel gift.  It was supposed to be a Red exchange, which means over $25 in materials and documentation, with historic accuracy playing a large part.  Due to it being an angel gift, time was critical, and materials were not quite as important, so I worked with what I had on hand. 

Sometimes ideas come slowly, but in this case, idea, research and product happened so fast I barely had time to process it before the gift was out the door.  Sometimes I just know when something is right, and this was very right, even if the materials were imperfect.  I made a bead necklace and a personal pendant seal with her heraldry.

The necklace was based on one that was listed in Christie's Auction House, of graduated carnelian and bronze beads, but I used glass, bronze and stone that I had on hand.  I strung them on copper wire.  No one knows what the originals were strung on, and no one knows exactly how they were strung as most of the finds were either scattered or restrung in the 1800's to fit tastes of that time.  We can look at the sculptures to get an idea of how the original jewelry was worn.

This sculpture shows multiple necklaces, with a ring seal.  Another in the same museum shows a pendant seal on a ribbon or band.  Personal seals were incredibly common for both men and women in Sassain society.  While most were made from stone, I opted for polymer clay.  I half baked it and then finished carving it.    As it turns out, Sala collects seals, and she was delighted to have one with her own arms.   Unfortunately I was (and still am) out of silk ribbon, so the theme of plastic held fast with a polyester ribbon. 

Note: I did not note what museum this sculpture is from in the file name.  Photo is not mine and I was not able to trace it back to it's original site.