Beaded necklace

Three Kingdoms Ornaments

All of these objects were made in the Old Silla kingdom of Korea (57 BCE–668 CE) during the Three Kingdoms period, between approximately 500 and 600.

In the early 1970s and 1980s, excavations of tombs in Seorabul (today’s Gyeongju), the capital of Silla, revealed that men and women in power resplendently adorned themselves. Their tombs were filled with luxurious accessories such as gold crowns, crown caps, rings, elaborately or simply decorated earrings, belts, bracelets, and necklaces made of gold, silver, and glass. Glass was considered just as precious as gold and silver because fabrication of it in Korea, most likely transmitted through trade on the Silk Road, was not yet fully developed. The ornaments shown in this case are examples of Old Silla jewelry-making traditions and techniques.