Rhodian Orientalising Jewellery in 19th Century Collecting Europe
Résumé
Rhodes is known as one of the main production centres of Ancient Greek jewellery during the so-called orientalising period (end of the eighth to the mid-sixth century BC), when it produced diadems, rosettes, plaques of pectorals, earrings and pendants. This jewellery was mainly found in the necropoleis of Kamiros, both in the 19th-century excavations carried out by Auguste Salzmann and Alfred Biliotti, and during the interwar years. This paper will explore the dispersion of Rhodian jewellery from these excavations to European collections and museums in the 19th-century antiquities market, as well as through gift exchange in the personal networks of Salzmann and Biliotti. The individual pieces of jewellery will be identified and their history of collecting outlined. This will allow a reconsideration of the distribution patterns of the jewellery in several important areas. Furthermore, questions concerning provenances and the location of ancient jewellery workshops will also be addressed.