Silver Snake Ring

Description

The stylish design of our Snake Ring is reproduced from a master mold taken directly from an original Egyptian bracelet from around 300–250 B.C. in the Museum's collection. Realistically rendered and detailed with scales on both its head and tail, the original snake bracelet was created during the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the area of Egypt ceded to General Ptolemy after Alexander the Great's early death.

Silver overlay, lightly antiqued. 3/8''W. Available in sizes 6, 7, or 8.

Art History

With Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Empire in 331 B.C., the lands under his control stretched from Greece and Asia Minor through Egypt and the Near East to India. As a result of this contact with cultures far and wide, Greek arts were exposed to a host of new exotic influences. Increased commercial and cultural exchanges and the greater mobility of goldsmiths and silversmiths led to the establishment of a common artistic language in which strikingly similar images and styles coexisted in distant corners of the Hellenistic world. Vast quantities of gold passed into circulation in the Hellenistic world, and gold jewelry became more popular.