Faustina Earrings: An Earring Without a Partner, and What It Still Tells Us
The Faustina Earrings are handcrafted replicas based on a single surviving Imperial Roman original earring in the antiquities collection of the Thorvaldsen Museum Copenhagen, dated AD 100–300: a round aventurine cabochon in a bezel setting, connected by an hourglass-shaped brass link with a freshwater pearl, in a formal language characteristic of high-status Roman earrings of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
Green Stone, White Pearl, No Matching Piece: The Imperial Roman Earring from Copenhagen
Roman Earrings Based on a Museum Original at a Glance
The Faustina Earrings are handcrafted replicas based on a single surviving Imperial Roman original earring in the antiquities collection of the Thorvaldsen Museum Copenhagen (AD 100–300): a round aventurine cabochon in a bezel setting, connected via a rigid, hourglass-shaped brass linking element to a freshwater pearl, in a formal language characteristic of high-status Roman earrings of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
What a Single Earring Reveals
In the depot of the Thorvaldsen Museum Copenhagen lies a Roman earring from the 2nd or 3rd century AD. It is completely preserved: the gold hook, the small bead at the upper end, the round stone in its setting, the hourglass-shaped connecting element, the hanging pearl. What is missing is its counterpart. The second piece of the pair was never found.
This is not unusual. The vast majority of Roman jewellery now kept in museums has come down to us without a clear archaeological context. Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844) systematically collected ancient objects during his forty years in Rome, buying on the art market and acquiring pieces from dealers and excavators. What he brought back was excellent, but rarely documented with a complete provenance. The single earring entered his collection at some point. Since then, it has remained in Copenhagen, without its partner.
What it still tells us is considerable. The hourglass-shaped link holds stone and pearl in a firm, calm axis. Unlike the classical crotalia type, in which the pearl swings freely, the entire three-part composition here is rigid: stone, connector and pearl form a single unit. Movement was not the goal, but form. This corresponds to the taste of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, when the weight of the stones and the quality of the materials became more important than playful rattling.
Aventurine, Pearl, Hourglass Connector
The Faustina Earrings in Detail
The Faustina Earrings have a clear vertical structure in three zones: at the top, the hook with a small gold bead; in the middle, the round green aventurine cabochon in its bezel setting; at the bottom, the white freshwater pearl, held by the hourglass-shaped brass connector. The aventurine cabochon is round, polished, without faceting, with the slight shimmering effect characteristic of aventurine. The freshwater pearl is baroque in shape, with slight natural irregularity.
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Length: 3.5 cm, width: 1.2 cm
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Material: brass (hook, setting, connector), genuine aventurine (green cabochon), genuine freshwater pearl (white, baroque)
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Closure: ear hook
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Type / Dating: Two-part earring with rigid connector, 2nd/3rd century AD
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Model / Find context: Single surviving original earring, antiquities collection, Thorvaldsen Museum Copenhagen, AD 100–300
From Museum to Ear: Who Wears the Faustina Earrings, and for What?
The Faustina Earrings have an unusual advantage: they are made after a single, specifically identifiable museum original. The Thorvaldsen Museum Copenhagen is not an abstract reference, but a real, visitable museum with an installation unchanged since 1848.
In reenactment, the earrings are suitable for portrayals of wealthy urban Roman women of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Their calm, dignified composition makes them especially suitable for portrayals of women of higher status. They combine well with the Octavia Necklace and the Pompeii Pearl Bracelet, since all three pieces share freshwater pearl as a common material.
In museum education, the earrings offer a special point of entry: the story of a single find without its partner. What does it mean when only one piece survives? These questions open a path to understanding the fragility of the archaeological transmission process.
A note on care: aventurine is sensitive to sunlight. Freshwater pearls should not come into contact with perfume or chemicals. Wipe dry after wearing.
Who Are the Faustina Earrings Worthwhile For?
Anyone building a portrayal of a wealthy Roman woman of the 2nd or 3rd century AD and placing value on directly verifiable museum evidence will find the Faustina Earrings to be the most precise piece in this series. Their calm composition is especially suited to portrayals of elevated social rank. Anyone who already owns the Octavia Necklace or the Pompeii Pearl Bracelet can combine the earrings with them directly.
Anyone seeking a more mobile type of earring, in which the pearl swings freely, will not be optimally served by the Faustina Earrings. The rigid connecting element holds stone and pearl in a fixed axis. For that requirement, a classical crotalia type would be the more suitable choice.
What Did Pliny Write About the Earrings of His Time?
Pliny the Elder devotes a remarkable sentence to women’s earrings in his Naturalis Historia, Book XI, Chapter 136:
“In aures quoque iam migrasse luxuriam, nec uno quidem satisfieri.”
“Luxury has already made its way even to the ears, and not even a single ornament is enough.”
Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, Book XI, Chapter 136, around AD 77
Pliny meant that the women of his time did not wear just one earring per ear, but several. The single earring now in the Thorvaldsen Museum, without its partner, seems almost modest in this context. A woman wearing two matching pieces, a stone above and a pearl below, calm and orderly, would probably have aroused the least disapproval from Pliny.
Copenhagen, Pearl, and Open Questions About the Faustina Earrings
For what kind of portrayal are the Faustina Earrings suitable?
For portrayals of wealthy urban Roman women of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The combination of green stone and pearl in a calm, dignified composition corresponds to the taste of the upper classes of this period. The earrings suit matronae, upper-class merchants’ wives, or Romanized provincial women with a clear claim to status.
Where does the original on which the Faustina Earrings are based come from?
The model is a single surviving Roman earring in the antiquities collection of the Thorvaldsen Museum Copenhagen, dated AD 100–300. Bertel Thorvaldsen assembled the collection during his forty-year stay in Rome and bequeathed it to the city of Copenhagen in 1838. The matching piece of the earring was never found.
Does the pearl move when worn, does it rattle?
No. The hourglass-shaped brass connecting element rigidly joins the aventurine cabochon and the freshwater pearl. Stone, connector and pearl form a fixed unit. The composition is calm and static.
Can I combine the Faustina Earrings with other pieces from this series?
Yes. The Octavia Necklace and the Pompeii Pearl Bracelet share freshwater pearl as a common main material and refer to the same social context. A set of these three pieces corresponds to the Imperial Roman custom of wearing coordinated jewellery.
Is the green stone genuine aventurine?
Yes. Aventurine is a natural quartzite with embedded mica particles that give the stone its characteristic shimmering effect. It is neither glass nor a synthetic material. As a modern equivalent to the green ornamental stones of the Imperial Roman period, it is historically plausible.
Collect First, Ask Later
Bertel Thorvaldsen was not a systematic archaeologist. He bought what he liked on the Roman art market, from dealers, from excavators. When the Thorvaldsen Museum opened in 1848, hundreds of ancient objects stood in the display cases that Thorvaldsen had never recorded in a catalogue. The museum administration had to inventory everything afterwards. The single earring whose matching piece is missing is therefore not only an archaeological riddle. It is also a small monument to the way the 19th century dealt with antiquity: collect first, ask later.
Sources
Title: Naturalis Historia, Book XI
Author: Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus Maior)
Publication: Tusculum edition, Artemis & Winkler, Munich/Zurich
Date: 1990 (original work around AD 77)
Title: 2 + 1. Antikke smykker, lamper og masker i Thorvaldsens Museum
Author: Torben Melander
Publication: Thorvaldsen Museum, Copenhagen
Date: 2006
Title: Greek and Roman Jewellery
Author: Reynold A. Higgins
Publication: University of California Press, Berkeley
Date: 1980
Further Links
Updated on: 10.04.2026
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