Images

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.

A replica of the 3.45 m high granite Buddha of the Seokguram Grotto, an Buddhist artificial cave temple constructed during the Unified Silla Period (668-935 CE) of ancient Korea. It is located near the Bulguksa Temple on Mt. Toham at the...

The exterior of the Seokguram Grotto, a Buddhist cave temple constructed during the Unified Silla Period (668-935 CE) of ancient Korea. It is located near the Bulguksa Temple on Mt. Toham at the ancient Silla capital of Geumseong (modern...

A granite relief sculpture of Avalokitesvara, the eleven-headed bodhisattva. The Seokguram Grotto, near Gyeongju, Korea. Height: over 2 metres. Unified Silla Period, 8th century CE.

This sardonyx cameo depicts a man in profile looking to the left. Perhaps, he is Hercules. Skilful Roman cameo-carvers exploited the tonal contrast of some stones. This could be a simple two-tone contrast or a more subtle variation using...

Each spoon in this matching set has a pear-shaped bowl attached by a small disc to an ornate handle. The bowls are decorated with different leaping animals, including a ram, panther, lion, lioness, stag, bear, boar, bull, hare, horse, and...

Gold pendant set with a coin of Constantine the Great, c 320s CE. The British Museum, London. The pendant is made in a pierced metalwork technique popular in fine jewellery of the time. The obverse of the coin depicts a bust of Constantine...