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| Ancient Greece Signet Ring - Aphrodite and Eros 4th century BC gold Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Ancient Greece Wreath with Oak Leaves and Acorns 4th century BC gold Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Ancient Greece Earrings - Lion Heads 4th century BC gold Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Roman Empire Aureus of Hadrian AD 134-138 gold Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Roman Empire and succeeding Langobardic Culture Roman cameo (AD 100-300) set in Langobardic disc brooch (AD 600) gold, cameo, glass Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Gold
After the murder, I called a meeting
to see if we were happy. I declared
I was not – I said I liked the man
we shot. You all disagreed with this.
I asked if you knew him, his wife,
none of you did. "Kill me, then,"
I said. You all stared at me. "Why,
Bernard? Of course we won't."
"Why not," I said. "He was a good
man, a better man than me. And
look at what I've brought you –
rubbish, dodgy tales, dross."
"Easy to dismiss that," you said.
"We appreciated it all. And you
wandered the wild paths to bring
it back to us – your songs, your
legends, magic stories, your gold."
I thanked you, but shook my head.
The good man was dead. I didn't care
what I'd brought you. I needed to go.
I packed up my sagas, my song lyrics,
my alchemy potions, my gold, and
I disappeared.
–Matthew Sweeney (2014)
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| Cesare Targone Virgin mourning the Dead Christ 1586-87 repoussé gold relief on obsidian background Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Anonymous Chinese Maker Earrings - Phoenixes 17th-18th century gold Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Anonymous Spanish Maker Bodice Ornament ca. 1700 gold scrollwork set with diamonds Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Anonymous Spanish Maker Pendant ca. 1750 gold openwork set with diamonds Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Anonymous Russian Maker Medallion - Portrait of Anna Ivanovna, Empress of Russia ca. 1730-40 gold set with diamonds and enamel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Anonymous European Maker Drawstring Bag ca. 1780-1820 gold wire mesh and seed pearls Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Anonymous European Maker Brooch ca. 1820-30 gold filigree, set with a large citrine, rubies and emeralds (formerly owned by Jane Morris, wife of William Morris) Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Anonymous British Maker Brooch ca. 1860 gold set with garnets and topazes Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Leonard McComb Portrait of a Young Man Standing 1963-83 life-size bronze statue covered with gold leaf Tate Gallery |