The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal Volume 15 1987

8 SpierFigure 3. Pendant on a chain composed of six short loop-in-loop segments.Byzantine, circa sixth century. Gold ornamented withgemstones. H (pendant): 2.6 cm (1"). New York, The MetropolitanMuseum of Art, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 17.190.1660.Photo: Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.gold solidus struck at Constantinople during the briefjoint reign of Justin I and Justinian in A.D. 527. Thependants are again oval shaped but are of slightly differentmanufacture from the previous examples. Theyare flatter, and the front sides are set with banded-agategems surrounded by two rows of beaded wire with aplaited-wire band between them. They do not have theborder of punched dots. All three pendants have a loopat the bottom for a small pendant, only one of whichsurvives—pear shaped with a beaded-wire rim set witha gem. Two of the pendants have patterns similar tothose seen on No. 4, while the larger central pendanthas a modified pattern so that an IX Christogram isformed, again outlined by the stylized acanthus leaves.The engraved pattern of a pendant in a Swiss privatecollection (No. 6; figs. 6a—b) is highly stylized, but theworkmanship is very fine. The engraving is bold, andthe leaves are accentuated by rows of punched dotsdown the spines. The added beaded wire is thick andcarefully molded, and the pendant itself is one of thelargest of the group. It is set with a remarkable constructionconsisting of a glass cover over an enamel that8. Ross, DO Cat, vol. 2, no. 145, pp. 100-101. See K. Wessel,Byzantine Enamels (Shannon, Ireland, 1969), no. 16, pp. 66—67, whodates the Dumbarton Oaks example circa A.D. 900.9. The enamel is both stylistically and technically very unusualand needs further examination. The goldwork appears certainlygenuine.10. P. Orsi, Sicilia bizantina (Rome, 1942), vol. 1, pp. 135-141. Thatthe pendant belongs to the group here under discussion was already