The ornament here engraved is said to have been found at Athens in 1874, and to have come from a site then in course of excavation at the back of the Parthenon. Whatever the circumstances of its discovery—and they are confessedly somewhat obscure—the object is in itself not only very interesting from an archaeological point of view, but (I add this on the authority of Mr. C. T. Newton) it is also unique.

Wrought of pure gold very rich in colour, the earring measures, from the wire which passed through the lobe of the ear to the bottom of the pendant, two inches and a quarter. It consists of two parts; namely, the earring proper, which is shaped after an antique pattern much in favour for fibulæ, and an oblong plate, or pendant, on which is represented, side by side, a pair of female figures beaten out in relief.