Elegant gold Roman “bulla” worn by children to ward off the “evil eye”

The double-sided lentoid-shaped pendant made of sheet gold has an outer rim of beaded gold wire. Single and double-corded wires form the frame and intricate adornment of a strap-like pendant loop in gold sheet, folded over, tapered and attached to the pendant with two wire and globule rivets. The pendant shows signs of wear through age and is in good wearable condition.                                                                                                                           

Provenance

Formerly in an American private collection (1980-1998)

Literature

The tradition of wearing a bulla goes back to the Etruscans, these were worn by men, women and children, as seen on sculptures of stone, terracotta or bronze, and portraits of the deceased featuring on sarcophagi (Mauro Cristofani/ Marina Martelli, L’oro degli Etruschi, Novara 1983, Plates VIII, IX, XXI for sculptural examples, figs. 219, 221, 225, 258 for gold necklaces). Cf. also sculptures in the British Museum, London, of a woman wearing bullae (inv. no. 1850,0227.3) and a little boy with three bullae on a necklace (inv. no. 1838,0608.16). The Etruscans wore necklaces with multiple gold bullae, some have figural scenes others ornate wire ornamentation. The Etruscan Empire was in decline and the rising power of the Romans led finally to the conquest of Etruria in the 1^st century BC and the integration of the Etruscans in the Roman World by 27 BC. However, the Etruscan legacy lived on during the Early Roman Empire, in customs, traditions, fashions and the crafts, see: exh. cat. Treasures from Tuscany - The Etruscan Legacy, National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh 2004, pp. 13, 131-132.

In the Ancient world beliefs and superstitions were widespread and integral to daily life. Amulets to protect against the Evil Eye were the most common in the Mediterranean cultures. Ancient Romans gave children protective amulets in the form of jewelry, young boys wore a so-called ‘crepundia’ (lat. crepere = rattle), a necklace from which numerous pendants were suspended, including a bulla, to create sounds too ward off the evil spirits ( cf. Astrid und Joachim Knuf, Amulette und Talismane, Symbole des magischen Alltags, Cologne 1984, pp. 48-50).

It was customary in Ancient Roman society for girls to wear a lunula pendant on a gold necklace, whilst a Roman boy was presented with a bulla at birth, which he wore until he reached the coming of age marked by the ceremony of the toga, about age 16 or 17. After being presented with the white toga virilis (toga of manhood) he symbolically placed his bulla in the shrine of the lars (household deities) in his parental home. The bulla was more than an amulet, it was also a symbol of status and is mentioned in many Roman literary sources. See: Gesa Schenke, Schein und Sein. Schmuckgebrauch in der Römischen Kaiserzeit, Leuven 2003, pp. 10, 12, 40-42, 160-164 and Reynold Higgins, Greek and Roman Jewellery, University of California, Berkeley and Los Angeles 1980 (2^nd edition), pp. 141-142, 151-152, 173-175, pl.                               

The bulla is also known as the Etruscum aurum of the Romans. A similar bulla pendant was found in the Casa del Menandro, in Pompeji (before 79 AD), see: Schenke, op.cit. Plate III, 3 and 4.

J-35106