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Scythian Gold
Hardcover book with dust jacket. approx. 9 1/4 x 12 inches. 351 pages with Index and Bibliography. Filled with mostly colored photographs of the art objects. A stunning book.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 11, 2019
I have a weakness for exhibition catalogues. I guess living on a small island in the middle of nowhere with only annual jaunts into the 'real' world makes me hungry for the big city culture of art galleries and museums.
Of all the catalogues I own, this is by far the most unusual. Most people, me included, have heard of the name 'Scythia' but wouldn't be able to relate it to anything in particular, let alone an empire of wheat-growing warriors in the area now known as Ukraine. The gold ornaments and jewellery they both made and commissioned reflects their attachment to animals and ornamentation and of the nomadic life style they loved (those that weren't growing wheat!)
In every book I own on ancient gold jewellery, the jewellery is more intricate than most modern pieces, except arguably Yemenite jewellery, but in design isn't very different from what we like now. There are only certain types of circles that can be hoop earrings or chokers or rings and being gold, a metal as popular now as then, a lot of it hasn't dated over the millenia.
The photography is superb and the text is very detailed and a perfect complement to it and to books on ancient history.
Of all the catalogues I own, this is by far the most unusual. Most people, me included, have heard of the name 'Scythia' but wouldn't be able to relate it to anything in particular, let alone an empire of wheat-growing warriors in the area now known as Ukraine. The gold ornaments and jewellery they both made and commissioned reflects their attachment to animals and ornamentation and of the nomadic life style they loved (those that weren't growing wheat!)
In every book I own on ancient gold jewellery, the jewellery is more intricate than most modern pieces, except arguably Yemenite jewellery, but in design isn't very different from what we like now. There are only certain types of circles that can be hoop earrings or chokers or rings and being gold, a metal as popular now as then, a lot of it hasn't dated over the millenia.
The photography is superb and the text is very detailed and a perfect complement to it and to books on ancient history.
April 14, 2014
There's not much to the essays (and the more detailed ones assume a fair bit of previous knowledge), but the photographs are stunning and the text accompanying the catalog entries is interesting and easy to understand.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews