A pair of Art Deco era, Egyptian revival earrings, modeled in 18k gold, that feature two ancient, glazed-steatite scarabs. A gold symbol hangs below each of our scarab friends— beneath one, a Djed, the "backbone of Osiris," a symbol of stability, strength, resurrection, and the afterlife; beneath the other an Ankh, an ancient symbol of eternal life and divine protection. Our scarabs are a beautiful dark, neutral brown color; one has a finish, more worn than the other, that reveals the steatite color under the glaze. These scarabs are mounted on riveted pins and framed by a length of twisted wire. The bases of both are carved with (different) prayers, wishes, or spells, in hieroglyphics.  Earwires are hand-pulled shepherd's hooks, with balled-up ends. These very special earrings are marked “Blanchard Cairo 18k”— they were made and sold by the well-known artifacts dealer RH Blanchard, who ran an antiquities shop in Egypt in the early 1900s. Blanchard also authored books on the subject of Egyptian artifacts. These unique, talismanic earrings are next level cool! Also they are very flattering in wear . . . sweet, mystical, and full of meaning.

Materials

18k gold
Steatite

Age

c. 1920

Dimensions

Total drop is approx 2 1/8 inches; scarab elements measure approx 14.3 x 19.

Notes

These earrings were formerly a pair of cufflinks. They have been thoughtfully redesigned, and all of the original elements are present. Even the hand-pulled earwires were made using the metal from the small chains that connected the backside and frontside elements.