Liz Roseberry, Ear Jackets, and a Look at Jewellery Through the Years
Words by Keyona Fazli, Head Writer
Elizabeth Roseberry, known as Liz Fox Roseberry on TikTok, has been popping up on my ‘For You’ page for the past six months. Her forte? Ear jackets, as she calls them. The handmade pieces are shaped by Liz and can be altered through an endless variety of ‘jacket’ additions, exemplified in one of Liz’s videos as she prepared to attend the most recent Schiaparelli Spring 2024 Couture Show.
Figure 2. Still taken from @foxcraftcustom on TikTok depicting some of Daniel Roseberry’s work at Schiaparelli
Figure 4. Liz Roseberry’s Disco Saturn Earring Jackets.
Liz’s inspiration can be considered connected to both nature and materiality – humorously seen in the transformation of her best-selling ‘Saturn’ hoops into ‘Disco Saturn’ hoops. This also doesn’t fall too far from her brother’s – Daniel Roseberry – work at Schiaparelli! These pieces also allow for a small element of surprise and customisation when they undergo the process of packaging; when wrapping up each order, Liz picks out ready-made studs at random to accompany her work.
With her fun experimentations in jewellery-making, the Texas-based TikToker has not only found a way to incorporate asymmetry and unique earring combinations into everyday wear, but also, in an indirect way, calls back on centuries of jewellery and ornament making across the world.
From South Asia to Central Europe, ear ‘jackets’, or as they are more often called, ear ornaments, feature reasonably frequently, from antiquity to the modern age.
Pieces such as the Amphora Earrings (Figure 5), which features a sphinx at its base, were widespread in Ancient Central Asia, being inspired by the Greek jewellery of the Classical and Hellenistic periods. These earrings, found in various versions and materials, demonstrate both local continuity and popularity beyond the Hellenistic era. The adaptability and unique nature of these earrings included how they could be attached and layered – much like Liz’s work!
Figure 6 showcases an earring with an amphora pendant discovered in Sirkap, Taxila, dating back to the middle of the 1st century AD. It features intricate details including a gold rectangular frame with delicate granulation, a miniature reclining figure of Eros, and an adorned amphora pendant. The handles of the amphora depict small Erotes figures riding sea monsters, with loops and chains terminating in pearls and gold leaf pendants. This ear pendant showcases several elements of Greek jewellery tradition popular in Central Asia, such as granulation, rosettes, and symbolic motifs like amphoras and Erotes – an amalgamation of themes and ideas that are reminiscent of what Liz crafts in her contemporary jewellery (think disco cherries and vine leaves!).
Another look into distinctive earpieces features the pendant in Figure 7, whose origins trace back to the Byzantine era and classical antiquity. During the Middle Byzantine period (843–1261), this form was widely popular beyond the Byzantine Empire, present in both Islamic countries and Eastern Europe.
Figure 8. The gold earrings and necklace of Seti II, from the Valley of the Kings. Egyptian civilisation, New Kingdom, Dynasty XIX. Cairo, Egyptian Museum.
Figure 1. Still taken from @foxcraftcustom on TikTok.
Figure 3. Liz Roseberry’s Saturn Earring Jacket.
Figure 5. Amphora Earrings. An earring with a protome of a sphinx (Zejmaľ 1985, 99, 252).
Figure 6. Earring with beech-nut pendants, Taxila, National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi, Photography by Christian Luczanits.
Figure 7. Disk-shaped Ear Pendant, Vicinity of Makó, late 16th century (Budapest, Hungarian National Museum).
Evidence suggests its presence in Islamic art, particularly in Fatimid Egypt and Syria, was influenced by Byzantine styles. Remarkably, this artifact persisted in the Balkans and Anatolia for centuries, with surviving examples dating to the Ottoman period. Stylistic analysis and parallels have found that in Southern Hungarian and Balkan hoards, dated by coins, similar filigree-decorated pieces from the sixteenth to seventeenth century are placed, associated with Kosovo and Macedonia.
My final example of these links between jewellery-making are the ornaments from Ancient Egypt. Indeed, organic materials have been integral to adornment since ancient times, from flowers, seeds, shells, and plant fibres. Even patterned shells, found in distant burials, attest to their widespread use. Cowry shells, prized for their perceived amulet powers, were worn as girdles by young women to safeguard and enhance fertility. Ivory, sourced from elephants and hippopotamuses, held value for its rarity and symbolism, often fashioned into various adornments like hairpins, rings, and beads. Glazed ceramic faience, known as ‘that which dazzles’ in Ancient Egypt, emerged as a favoured material for jewellery due to its vibrant range of colours, offering artisans ample creative opportunities. In the photo above (Figure 8), you can see shells and seeds utilised for their shape and used as moulds for jewellery.
Though this has been a very brief look at the similarities between the shapes and themes of jewellery, from antiquity to the present, these comparisons remind us that though no idea can ever be truly unique, the combination of contemporary creativity with the familiarity of millennia of jewellery keeps us as consumers in awe with the versatility of this form of artistic expression.
If you want to look at Liz’s work, check out her page on Etsy! I for one am certainly looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.
Figure 9. Liz Roseberry’s Etsy site.
Sources:
Belaňová, Petra. 2016. “Ancient Adornments of Central Asia Influenced by the Greek Jewellery of the Classical and Hellenistic Period”. Studia Hercynia XX/1: 111–126.
El-Mageed, Esmat Abd and Sahar Ahmed Ibrahim. 2012. “Ancient Egyptian colours as a contemporary fashion.” Journal of the International Colour Association 9: 32-47.
Gerelyes, Ibolya. 2020. "Ottoman-Balkan Jewellery in Ottoman Hungary: Typology and Spread" In Identity and Culture in Ottoman Hungary edited by Pál Ács and Pál Fodor, 239-254. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783112209301-013
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LizFoxRoseberryShop?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search_UK_DSA_GGL_ENG_Jewelry_Categories_All&utm_ag=Earrings&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjw-r-vBhC-ARIsAGgUO2AkIAJsjVBiH4va9-XKx1hkV0G7JmV5Pfif5VA5nTeWLBeF6-Xu29UaAuzkEALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_10026060854_97800127861_544453317589_dsa-40456317723_c_&utm_custom2=10026060854&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-r-vBhC-ARIsAGgUO2AkIAJsjVBiH4va9-XKx1hkV0G7JmV5Pfif5VA5nTeWLBeF6-Xu29UaAuzkEALw_wcB
https://sites.asiasociety.org/gandhara/exhibit-sections/classical-connections/
https://colorsandstones.eu/2023/03/23/jewelry-from-gandhara-taxila-a-catalog/
https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/gold-earrings-of-seti-ii-from-the-valley-of-the-kings-news-photo/475602293