Appliques and Brooches

5th‐2nd century B.C.
Gold (e: Gilded silver)
(a)H. 2.9 cm(b)H. 2.4 cm
cH. 1.1 cm, W. 1.8 cm(d)H. 1.1 cm, W. 1.4 cm
(e)H. 3.7 cm, W. 3.5 cm(f)H. 2.6 cm
(g)H. 3.9 cm, W. 1.4 cm(h)H. 0.5-0.9 cm, W. 1.3-1.7 cm
(a) The head of Bes has been incised on a circular sheet of gold. Lotus petals are arrayed around the head.
(b) A gold sheet has been cut in open work style to show a crowned figure facing to the left with hands raised and surrounded by palmetto-shaped designs. The central figure is thought to be a depiction of Khvarenah, like that seen on cat. No. 188-a.
c A sheet of gold has been hammered into a design of a human figure wearing an Assyrian style helmet flanked by a bull and a bird (or possibly another bull). This is thought to be probably a uniquely west Asian design of a hero accompanied by animals.
(d) A thick oval gold plate has been carved in intaglio with a design of a seated, winged bull. There are three rings on the back of the plate which would have been used to attach the work to some other form.
(e) A disk of silver shows a figure facing to the right who is thought to be the Macedonian Alexander the Great. The figure was hammered and relief carved and then gilded.
(f) A woman's head, facing to the left, has been depicted in hammer work and incised lines on a circular sheet of gold. The head is surrounded by a design of linked jewels. The neck of the figure is adorned with a linked jewel necklace and long earrings hang from her ears. Her hair is pulled back and bound with a ribbon. The facial features are not Greek, and this image could represent Roxanne, the Bactrian wife of Alexander the Great.