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BRACELET, or ARMLET

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 360 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BRACELET, or ARMLET , a See also:personal See also:ornament for the See also:arm or See also:wrist, made of different materials, according to the See also:fashion of the See also:age and the See also:rank of the wearer. The word is the See also:French bracelet, a diminutive of bracel, from brac(c)hiale, formed from the Latin bracchium, the arm, on which it was usually worn. By the See also:Romans it was called See also:armilla, brachiale, occabus; and in the See also:middle ages bauga, armispatha. In the See also:Bible there are three different words which the authorized version renders by " bracelet." These are—(I) rngsu 'es'adah, which occurs in Num. xxxi. 50, 2 Sam. i. 1o, and which being used with reference to men only, may be taken to be the armlet; (2) ,'es .F amid, which is found in Gen. See also:xxiv. 22, Num. xxxi. 5o, Ezek. xvi. 11;—where these two words occur together (as in Num. xxxi. 50) the first is rendered by " See also:chain," and the second by " bracelet "; (3) mrts sheroth, which occurs only in Isa. 19. The first probably meant armlets worn by men; the second, bracelets worn by See also:women and sometimes by men; and the third a See also:peculiar bracelet of chain-See also:work worn only by women.

o ,rrr PPP from La Grande Encyclopedia. In 2 Sam. i. ro the first word denotes the royal ornament which the Amalekite took from the arm of the dead See also:

Saul, and brought with the other See also:regalia to See also:David. There is little question that this was such a distinguishing See also:band of jewelled See also:metal as we still find worn as a See also:mark of See also:royalty from the See also:Tigris to the See also:Ganges. The See also:Egyptian See also:kings are represented with armlets, which were also worn by the Egyptian women. These, however, are not jewelled, but of See also:plain or enamelled metal, as was in all likelihood the See also:case among the See also:Hebrews. In See also:modern times the most celebrated armlets are those which See also:form See also:part of the regalia of the See also:Persian kings and formerly belonged to the See also:Mogul emperors of See also:India, From La Grande Encyclopedia. 359 and is considered the See also:diamond of finest lustre in the See also:world. The See also:principal See also:jewel of the See also:left armlet, although of somewhat inferior See also:size (146 carats) and value, is renowned as the Taj-a-mah, " See also:crown of the See also:moon." The imperial armlets, generally set with jewels, may also be observed in most of the portraits of the See also:Indian emperors. Bracelets have at all times been much in use among barbaric nations, and the women frequently See also:wear several on the same arm. The finer kinds are of See also:mother-of-See also:pearl, See also:fine See also:gold or See also:silver; others of less value are made of plated See also:steel, See also:horn, See also:brass, See also:copper, beads, &c. See also:Chinese bracelets are sometimes cut out of single pieces of See also:jade. This See also:species of personal ornament has been exceedingly See also:common in See also:Europe from prehistoric times onward.

The bracelets of the See also:

Bronze Age were of either gold or bronze, silver being then unknown. In shape they were See also:oval and penannular with expanding or See also:trumpet-shaped ends, having an opening between them of about See also:half an See also:inch to enable them to be easily slipped over the wrist. Those of gold were generally plain, hammered rods, See also:bent to the requisite shape, but those of bronze were often chased with decorative designs. Some forms of See also:spiral armlets of bronze, peculiar to See also:Germany and Scandinavia, covered the whole fore-arm, and were doubtless intended as much for See also:defence against a See also:sword-stroke as for ornament. Among the nations of classical antiquity, bracelets were worn by both sexes of the Etruscans; by women only among the Greeks, except in orientalized communities. Among the Romans they were worn by women only as a See also:rule, but they are also recorded to have been used during the See also:empire by nouveaux riches, and by some of the emperors. It should also be mentioned that bracelets were conferred as a military decoration in the See also:field. The bracelets of the Greeks are of two leading types, both of which were also See also:familiar to the Assyrians. The one class were in the form of coiled spirals, usually in the form of See also:snakes, a See also:term which See also:Pollux gives as a synonym for bracelet. The other class were stiff See also:pen-See also:annular hoops, capable of being slightly opened. In such examples the terminals are finely finished as rams' heads, lions' heads, or (as in the accompanying figure from a bracelet found at Kul- From La Grande Encyclopedia. oba) as enamelled FIG.

2.-See also:

Greek Bracelet, Hermitage. sphinxes. In See also:late See also:Etruscan See also:art the bracelet may be formed of consecutive panels, as often in modern See also:jewelry. The spiral forms were common in the See also:Iron Age of See also:northern Europe, while silver bracelets of See also:great elegance, formed of plaited and intertwisted strands of silver See also:wire, and plain penannular being part of the spoil carried to See also:Persia from See also:Delhi by See also:Nadir Shah in 1739. These ornaments are of dazzling splendour, and the jewels in them are of such large size and immense value that the pair have been reckoned to be See also:worth a million See also:sterling. The principal See also:stone of the right armlet is famous in the See also:East under the name of the Darya-i-nur, " See also:sea (or See also:river) of See also:light." It weighs 186 carats, , Fig. 3.-Etruscan Bracelet, Louvre. hodps, See also:round or See also:lozenge-shaped in See also:section and tapering to the extremities, became common towards the See also:close of the See also:pagan See also:period. The late See also:Celtic period in See also:Britain was characterized by See also:serpent-shaped bracelets and massive armlets, with projecting ornaments of solid bronze and perforations filled with See also:enamel. In the middle ages bracelets were much less commonly used in Europe, but the See also:custom has continued,to prevail among Eastern nations to the See also:present See also:time, and many of the types that were common in Europe in prehistoric times are still worn in central See also:Asia. A See also:treatise, De Armillis Veterum, by See also:Thomas See also:Bartholinus, was published at See also:Amsterdam in 1676.

End of Article: BRACELET, or ARMLET

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