NEOS KOSMOS
Riley Concannon
One of Australia's most talented artisan jewellers. Riley designs and works in Sydney with precious metals & found objects.
Riley Concannon's exquisite gold Nike earrings were inspired by a pair in the Chai Chak Wing Museum ancient jewellery collection at The University of Sydney. His earrings may be viewed on Riley’s Instagram post: Gold Nike earrings
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| Three good friends who share similar interests: Riley Concannon, Julia Booth & MonicaM wearing Riley's silver grape cluster earrings. Julia Booth is a lecturer in Strategic Communication at The University of Sydney, she has published widely and has a particular interest in ancient jewellery: Julia Booth CV |
For all inquiries: Riley Concannon-jeweller Riley Concannon
GREEK CITY TIMES
Dr Monica M. Jackson
shares her expertise on Ancient Greek Jewellery
You would be hard pressed to find
someone who has not marveled at the jewellery adorning ancient Greeks. Boasting
shades of vibrant gold and intricate workmanship, designers to this day
continue to draw inspiration from ancient Greece, including creations of coins
for necklaces and earrings, as well as leaf motifs.
Her latest work is “Hellenistic Gold
Jewellery in the Benaki Museum Athens”, a book about jewellery houses in the
famous Benaki Museum in Athens, one of the most astounding private collections
in existence, showcasing each of these precious artefacts and detailing their
significance.
Her latest work is “Hellenistic Gold
Jewellery in the Benaki Museum Athens”, a book about jewellery houses in the
famous Benaki Museum in Athens, one of the most astounding private collections
in existence, showcasing each of these precious artefacts and detailing their
significance.
Dr Monica’s book reveals the typology
of the ornaments and the elaborate techniques of their manufacture and a
separate chapter is also devoted to the historical frame, in which goldsmithing
flourished.
The book, which was launched at
Benaki in Athens last year, will now be unveiled in Sydney, this Thursday, 15th
of February, at the University of Sydney.
GCT recently caught up with Dr
Jackson to chat about her passion for archaeology, ancient jewels and her
wonderful new book.
What made you enter the field of
archaeology?
At a young age growing up in a small
country town I dreamt of becoming a famous artist – the dream was encouraged by
several first prizes in the local shows. My interest in archaeology began in my
second last year at Loreto College boarding school in Brisbane when I
discovered the heroes of the ancient world such as Alexander the Great and
Hannibal. My Ancient History teacher, Sister de Montfort took a particular
interest in my progress. I was awarded the Ancient History prize and gained an
‘A’ grade in the matriculation exams.
What made you want to specialize in
ancient jewellery?
During the 1990's I participated in excavations conducted by Professor Alexander Cambitoglou. From time to time fragments of Hellenistic West Slope pottery were discovered. Exquisitely gilded designs of wreaths and necklaces often decorated the necks and shoulders of these vases. It was at this time that the idea of specializing in ancient jewellery captured my imagination.
What is the most interesting part of
the collection you have based your book on?
The collection incorporates a wide
range of jewellery types, which give an insight into the nature and use of
jewellery throughout the wider Hellenistic world, as far as the western reaches
of Central Asia. The chapter ‘Seven Objects: Seven Stories’ exemplifies these
interconnections.
What is the most exciting part of
your work, and also what is the most challenging?
Micro and miniature techniques of the
ancient goldsmiths are the most exciting but also the most
challenging. Traditionally archaeologists have tended to marginalize the
so-called ‘Minor Arts’ and in particular miniature techniques. Today attitudes
are changing, particularly as jewellery is now accepted and published as
archaeological artefacts. The ability to examine gold jewellery under the
optical microscope is the way forward.
What is the most significant item you
have ever come across?
The most significant item is a pair
of Eros earrings joined by a fine loop-in-loop chain (Inv. 1562). The dancing
Eros holding aloft a cup kantharos has a hidden dimension, discovered under the
optical microscope. The smiling face is in fact a comic theatre mask, which may
be the goldsmith’s hidden signature.
What lesson do you hope people take
away from reading your book?
That every object has a story to
tell. Each technically sophisticated piece provides an insight into the
competitive world of the Hellenistic goldsmith-jeweller, who worked
collaboratively – but demonstrated his individuality in surprising ways.
Greek City Times - Dr-Monica-M. Jackson
facebook.com/greekcitytimes/posts
Book Launch: Dr Monica M. Jackson
‘HELLENISTIC GOLD JEWELLERY IN THE BENAKI MUSEUM, ATHENS’
facebook.com/greekcitytimes/posts
Book Launch: Dr Monica M. Jackson
‘HELLENISTIC GOLD JEWELLERY IN THE BENAKI MUSEUM, ATHENS’
Date: Thursday 15 February 2018, 6.00 pm
Venue: MacLaurin Hall – Main Quadrangle,
The University of Sydney
Followed by light refreshments (free event)
Venue: MacLaurin Hall – Main Quadrangle,
The University of Sydney
Followed by light refreshments (free event)
The book will be available for purchase at the launch and following that at the Sydney University Nicholson Museum gift shop.
Sydney Museums/publications/catalogues
Sydney Museums/publications/catalogues
CRUISING THE ISLES OF GREECE - ATHENS TO ISTANBUL
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| Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens - Cruise Traveller - Flyer |
Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens (AAIA)
DELOS - APOLLO'S ISLAND
"WHERE DELOS ROSE AND PHOEBUS SPRUNG"
Cruising from Athens to Istanbul in September 2012 as a Guest Lecturer onboard the MV Aegean Odyssey I was greatly anticipating my first visit to the legendary Island of Delos sacred to the shining Phoebus Apollo - the god of music and the arts. Delos was also sacred to Apollo's twin sister Artemis - goddess of the hunt. We arrived on a bright but windy morning - for here one also feels the proximity of the god Aeolus the "Keeper of the Winds" mentioned in Book X of Homer's Odyssey. The god's unrelenting presence was with us as we wandered through the ancient sanctuaries, temples, theatre and buildings.
In the Late Hellenistic period ca. 200-150 BC Delos was one of the great international trading centres of the ancient world. At that time the northern area of the island known as the Skardania Quarter was inhabited by wealthy merchants who had close contacts with Taranto (south Italy), Egypt, Northern Greece, East Greece (western Turkey), Antioch, Lebanon and the Bosporus (the Black Sea).
In the Late Hellenistic period ca. 200-150 BC Delos was one of the great international trading centres of the ancient world. At that time the northern area of the island known as the Skardania Quarter was inhabited by wealthy merchants who had close contacts with Taranto (south Italy), Egypt, Northern Greece, East Greece (western Turkey), Antioch, Lebanon and the Bosporus (the Black Sea).
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| Dr Monica M. Jackson, at the House of Ambrosia, Skardania Quarter, Delos where in 1967 French excavators discovered a buried hoard of Late Hellenistic jewellery |
While on the island I was fortunate to visit the House of Ambrosia in the Skardania Quarter. The house was named for its mosaic which depicted Lykurgus the King of Thrace and Ambrosia the nurse of Dionysos. Here beneath the floor of a luxury private residence, an intact treasure of coins and jewellery had once been buried in haste. The island was attacked and devastated twice - first by Mithradates the King of Pontus in 88 BC and again in 69 BC by the pirates of Athenagoras. The treasure which is likely to have been imported from Egypt was buried on one of those occasions.
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| Jewellery found in the Insula of the Jewels, Skardania Quarter, Delos |
But this was no ordinary treasure - for the Delos Hoard can be linked stylistically and technically to jewellery salvaged on two separate occasions from a Roman merchant ship - now known as the Antikythera Shipwreck, which sank off the coast of the Islet of Antikythera in the 1st century BC. The first excavation of the shipwreck was undertaken in 1902 by Greek archaeologists. The second in 1976 by Jacques Cousteau and his team of divers. The famous Antikythera Mechanism sometimes referred to as the first analogue computer, a Greek mechanism dated to ca. 150 BC was salvaged from the wreck. Together with the other treasures, it is now on display in the Archaeological Museum in Athens. The generally accepted date of the mid 2nd century BC for the manufacture of the Mechanism serendipitously coincides with that of the jewellery.
Onboard the MV Aegean Odyssey one of my lectures included the latest information on the Antikythera Mechanism in combination with my recently published research on the jewellery from Delos and the jewellery from the Antikythera Shipwreck. At the conclusion of the cruise, I was honoured to address the Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries, at the Royal Academy London. The renowned scholar Michael Wright was present. His early research, together with that of Alan Bromley of the University of Sydney, was fundamental to the later ground-breaking work of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project led by Mike Edmunds, Professor of Astrophysics at Cardiff University.
Onboard the MV Aegean Odyssey one of my lectures included the latest information on the Antikythera Mechanism in combination with my recently published research on the jewellery from Delos and the jewellery from the Antikythera Shipwreck. At the conclusion of the cruise, I was honoured to address the Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries, at the Royal Academy London. The renowned scholar Michael Wright was present. His early research, together with that of Alan Bromley of the University of Sydney, was fundamental to the later ground-breaking work of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project led by Mike Edmunds, Professor of Astrophysics at Cardiff University.
By studying the 53rd
https://youtu.be/MqhuAnySPZ0 |
| Monica M. Jackson with Michael Wright - his working model of the Antikythera Mechanism, London 2012. Through his intensive examination of the 53rd tooth gear in the Antikythera Mechanism, Michael Wright was the first to discover the variable motion of the moon, which has an elliptical rotation. View Michael Wright's working model of Antikythera Mechanism |
Michael Wright The Economist-second-ancient-Greek-computer
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