Serpentine mold for casting bead pendants

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This serpentine carved object is half of a two-part mold that was used to cast gold beads. The two parts were attached by the three holes, visible at the top and bottom. The funnel-shaped cuttings along the straight edge are the sprues through which the liquid metal was poured into the mold. Minoan goldsmiths used sophisticated techniques to create elaborate jewelry, headdresses, and ornaments for hair and clothing, often in the form of naturalistic motifs such as plants, flowers, and marine life. The objects in the collection represent different gold-working methods. Many of the ornaments were cut from gold hammered into thin sheets, some decorated with patterns raised in relief from the back. Gold was also melted and poured into molds. Imported primarily from Egypt, gold was extremely rare. Only the very wealthy could afford such adornments.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art