Ilithyia Bracelet

This incredible bracelet is inspired by a Mycenaean gold example from the area of Phaistos, in Crete, dating 1400 to 1300 BC. It is made up of small links that are supposed to recall the white lily, a popular motif that was ubiquitous in Minoan and Mycenaean art. The white lily appears in several examples of Bronze Age frescoes on Crete, for example, but it is particularly prevalent in ancient jewelry. The white lily rendered as a bead (as it is with our bracelet) was perhaps the most popular form, as dozens of examples in gold, ivory, and other materials have been found in archaeological excavations across the island. The popularity of this motif, and thus the white lily itself, suggests that the flower may have held special meaning for its ancient viewers.

Ilithyia is a goddess that may be traced back to the Bronze Age in Crete, as her name appears in Linear B tablets (𐀁𐀩𐀄𐀴𐀊). In fact, she appears in the Iliad of Homer as the "goddess of childbirth" (16.187). In later Greek mythology, Ilithyia was the goddess of childbirth and midwives. She was, as well, the daughter of Zeus and Hera.