Etruscan Amber and Gold Bead Necklace. 7th century BC. A substantial restrung necklace of amber beads, mainly biconvex and spherical types, with eight gold filigree collars wrapped around amber discs, two lentoid section rectangular beads with herringbone detailing, one repaired, and a biconvex iridescent green glass bead centrepiece; modern clasp.Cf. Troili, E. et al., Treasures From Tuscany - The Etruscan Legacy, Edinburgh, 2004, item BM11, for type; see a similar Picenian necklace in the Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome, with small rings and big amber pendant, in Weber Soros, S., Walker, S., Castellani Italian Archaeological Jewelry, New Haven and London, 2004; for other examples cf. Torelli, M., Gli Etruschi, Cinisello Balsamo, 2000, pp.112,576, necklace from Vetulonia, in the Archaeological Museum of Firenze, inv.94225; Orsini, B., Le lacrime delle Ninfe, Tesori d’ambra nei musei dell’Emilia Romagna, Bologna, 2010, no.1, p.90 (necklace), from the grave 335.5 at Vitale; no.1, p.117 (elements of necklace), from Terramara di Montale-Castelnuovo Rangone; no.17, p.119 (elements of necklace), from the grave of the Nosadella, Castelvetro, 5th century BC; necklaces in amber pearls, figs.7b and 9b, pp.131-132; the necklace in the Ravenna National Museum, p.147, fig.1.60 grams, 57cm (22 1/2"). From an important North West London collection; acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s; previously in an old New York, USA collection; by repute formerly with Sotheby's; accompanied by an archaeological report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato and an independent specialist report and valuation by graduate gemmologist and jewellery expert Anna Rogers, GIA GG, BA, Gem-A, ref. no. 174380/24/03/2021; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10641-174380.Amber jewellery was often an alternative to gold for Etruscan women. For example, the women of Spina, near Ferrara, wore gold earrings but did not like to flaunt other gold jewellery, preferring to wear necklaces with amber and glass paste inspired by Greek models instead. The Etruscans mainly controlled the trade of amber from the Baltic regions, through the Celts. A high-ranking woman buried in one of the tombs at the necropolis in the Golasecca area (near Genova), was found with a rich array of jewellery, including an elaborate amber necklace with carved pendants in the shape of a boot or vase. The presence of a rich and probably foreign woman buried in this area is further confirmation of the commercial alliances established through marriages. The jewellery found in the tomb also indicates close connections with the Etruscan centres in the Po Valley, where goldsmiths' workshops were operating, producing fibulae in precious metals, and refined necklaces and pendants carved in amber imported from the Baltic Sea through the Celts.