Feather Jewelry in the Ancient World

These earrings from Roman Egypt, c. 300 CE, are made of feathers, cloth, and glass beads. No doubt there were once many pieces of jewelry made from feathers and other perishable substances -- leather, wood, plaster, etc. -- but almost all of them have disappeared, That makes this pair from the Egyptian desert an  important reminder of a whole class of missing things from the ancient world. From the Getty's Tumblr.