Adonis Necklace

This solid silver necklace with it's eye-catching blood-red carnelian stone was specially commissioned by The British Museum. The striking geometry and texture of the hand-crafted silver contrasts with the lustrous deep red carnelian stone. A one-of-a-kind statement necklace with a history rooted in classical mythology and folklore.

The popular myth of Adonis centres on the foothills above the ancient city of Byblos where the Phoenician goddess Ashtar (known as Aphrodite by the Greeks) fell in love with a beautiful orphaned boy called Adonis. Left in the care of the goddess of the underworld, who also fell in love with him, it was agreed that Adonis would spend half of the year with each of them. Tragically, one of the male gods became jealous of Adonis’ beauty and growing influence and, under the guise of a wild boar, fatally gored the handsome young man.

As Adonis lay dying in Ashtar’s arms, his blood spilled onto an anemone flower, staining it crimson red. Seeing the strength of Ashtar’s grief, the goddess of the underworld took pity and restored Adonis to life so that he could once again spend half the year in the mountains and half in the underworld.

The Phoenicians commemorated Adonis’ death when autumn floods turn the Adonis river red as mud from the mountains is carried downstream and celebrated his restoration to life by singing and dancing as red anemone flowers bloom in the valleys every Spring.

The Adonis necklace with its blood-red carnelian stone is inspired by this beautiful story and features polished silver reflecting God’s purity and power and skilfully hammered surfaces echoing the turbulence of the Adonis river as it carves its way down through mountainous valleys to the Mediterranean Sea at Byblos.