A pair of miniature silver bell earrings, circa 1880, attributed to Castellani.

They are a reduced copy of an ancient gold bell found on the Esquiline Hill in Rome in 1873, which entered the Castellani collection of ancient jewellery.

It was described as a charm to ward off the evil eye. The bell was inscribed in Greek : TOI COM MAC IN VNO TET AG MAI, which translates as 'I am enslaved by your eyes'.

Metal: Tests for silver

Length: 4.6cm long drop from Ball top.

Width: diameter Base of Bell 1.2cm x1.1cm

Total Weight: 5.2grms

Condition: small casting hole on the MAC ATM side of one -very hard to see and some mirror dents on TOI VAD.

NSEar01