Antique Ethiopian Coin Silver Latin Cross (E331PCE) $175

Description

No other region has produced the quantity, quality and diversity as the Christian crosses from the Ethiopian-Highlands in Africa, an area renowned for its unique African-art and African-metalwork. The uniqueness of Ethiopian Crosses reflects influences of many ancient civilizations: Coptic, Celtic, Egyptian, Byzantine, Greek, and Roman. Ethiopia was the second country to make Christianity its official religion but remained isolated from Europe enabling the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to retain its early simplicity, purity, symbolism and practices of the earliest Christian culture’s. This simple elegant Ethiopian-Cross pendant is a Latin-Cross with a horizontal bar crossing a vertical bar, the universal symbol of Christianity. The prominent flat outline of the bordered cross has rounded corners and is surmounted by a raised rounded cross in the center. Made using the lost-wax technique from coin-silver with an attached suspension-loop allowing a chain or cord to be threaded through it, this cross has a fine patina and is a one-of-a-kind piece of African-jewelry. Often crosses made prior to the 20th century in small villages by skilled local metal smiths were simpler, yet they are strikingly beautiful and powerful. The chain is not included.

For information and bibliographic citations click here for the blog The Evolution and Brilliance of Ethiopian Crosses