Laelia Earrings

These eye-catching earrings are truly unique, and are based on a pair from the Greek world dating to the fourth century BC. Here, the slender hook curves forward over a bold spherical form that sits atop a sleek and stylized model of a bird.

"Laelia" is the female patronymic form of the name Laelius. The gens Laelia was a plebeian family in Rome whose members included several consuls in the period of the Late Republic. One female member of the family was known as Laelia the Elder (born c. 120 BC), who married Quintus Mucius Scaevola, the augur. She was commended by the orator Quintilian for her graceful speech: "Laelia, the daughter of Gaius Laelius, is said to have reproduced the elegance of her father's language in her own speech..." - Institutio Oratoria 1.1.6