Images

This is the most elaborate shield to survive from Anglo-Saxon England. The metal rim and gilded copper alloy, gold and garnet fittings are unusual. The central iron boss protected the user's hand, while mounts depicting a bird of prey and...

During the 600s CE, supplies of oriental garnets failed and gold and silver grew scarcer. As a result, Frankish jewelers turned to a decorative technique of inlaying designs and silver wire. These often imitated patterns used earlier in garnet...

The potter, squatting on the ground, operates a primitive wheel with his feet while forming the sides of the pot with his hands. Cypriot, made about 500 BCE. Excavated at Amathus, Cyprus. (The British Museum, London).

The relief on the side of the throne shows a prize-table with a Panathenaic amphora and three wreaths on it. Under the table are two palm branches and in the background an olive tree. Two owls form the front legs. Marble chair from the Panathenaic...

The moulded heads of a satyr and of a woman are joined back-to-back on this kantharos (drinking cup). Drinking from it, the (male) symposiast would have found himself confronted with 2 different images that represent opposites of himself...

These strap fittings come from the leather belts or harness that held the purse and sword at the dead man's waist. They are made of gold and most are decorated with cloisonne garnets. The triangle fitting resembles a stylized animal mask...

The Franks continued to produce glass vessels and wheel-made pottery using Roman methods, but the finer skills were lost and glassware became a luxury, used only at high status feasts. Roman glass-making centers in the Rhineland (Western...

Terracotta statuette of a warrior carrying a Celtic shield. He is depicted with long hair, drooping moustache, trousers and a tunic. 2nd century CE. (Ashmolean Museum, UK)

While this class of bowl typically bears bird motifs on the outside, this example, dating to the mid-sixth century BCE, features the stylistic representation of plants and geometric motifs instead. The inside simply features simple banding...

Two-metre high granite relief sculpture of Manjusri, a bodhisattva. The Seokguram Grotto, near Gyeongju, Korea. Height: over 2 metres. Unified Silla Period, 8th century CE.