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The present contribution concerns the Early Avar (late 6th and first half of the 7th century AD) metal objects ornamented with garnets from the perspective of the inlay techniques employed. Such inlays occur exclusively on objects made of precious metals, indicating the high value placed on these stones. Besides standard cloisonné, it has been possible to identify techniques such as soldered band settings of single and multiple cells and open-work cellwork (pseudo cloisonné, champlevé à jour) as well as sunken settings (cast cavities) of single and multiple cells (standard champlevé). Their specific characteristics identify them as representing diverse workshop traditions and the finds assemblages can be sub-divided into three groups: a group that suggests links with the Merovingian-Germanic cultural sphere, and two sub-groups that can be traced back to Late Roman and early Byzantine traditions. Future research may establish whether this division into groups reflects alternative distribution networks for the procurement of garnets.

The craft of enamelling originated in Europe.1 The technique of cloisonne enamel, which can be traced back to the Mycenaean culture, flourished in Byzantium from the middle of the ninth century to 1204, with Constantinople at its centre. Cloisonne was also crafted in the areas surrounding Constantinople (and continued after the extinction of the empire), in places such as Kiev, Georgia, Venice and Iran. The Celts had utilized the champleve enamel technique on copper long before Rome conquered Western Europe, and it is found in Romano-British decorative art. In twelfth-century Byzantium, champleve enamel superseded cloisonne and became one of the important means of expression in religious art. This champleve craft was popular in France, Spain and England up until the fourteenth century.2 The craft of painted enamel developed from cloisonne and champleve and originated from France, the Netherlands and Italy in the fifteenth century. Limoges in France is renowned for the high-quality production of this technique.

This study consists of an investigation about one missing crosier made of champleve enamel. This object comes from the Sant Pere d'Ager church (Lleida). This piece is an unicum inside the enamels corpus of Catalonia for its personal iconography. We think that this piece of work by Limoges dates from the end of the 12th century or from the beginning of the 13th century.

A mid fourteenth-century Spanish ciborium began to show signs of corrosion while on display in a closed case. The ciborium is made of gilded copper and champleve enamel. The corrosion was found to be associated with a certain color of enamel. The enamel in the portions that evidence corrosion is itself much deteriorated. Though now a dull green-blue, it appears that it was once bright blue. Analysis shows that the deteriorated glass contains cobalt, which is probably the colorant. This enamel is a high potassium, low lead glass which is known to be unstable. Decomposition of this glass followed by leaching of components during a period of elevated relative humidity and temperature could account for the corrosion of the object. A fifteenth-century Spanish silver-gilt reliquary was found to have similarly deteriorated blue glass.

Laodikeia Phrygia 'nın batı sınırındadır. Toprakları modern Eskihisar, Goncalı ve Bozbı:ırun köyleri ara­sında paylaşılmaktadır. Lykos (Çürüksu) vadisinin önemli bir kenti olan Laodikeia, fi. Antiokhos tara­fından MÖ. 253 'den önce kurulmuş ve karısı Laodike'nin adı verilmiştir. Coğrafik önemi Orta ve Güney Anadolu'dan batıya uzanan yolların kavşağında yer almasından kaynaklanır. Zenginliğini aynı zaman­da tekstil ticaretinde oynadığı etkin role borçludur. Tarihi boyunca sık aralarla yaşadığı depremlerden etkilenmiştir. Focas dönemindeki (602-610) bir deprem sonrasında yerleşim Denizli 'deki Kaleiçi 'ne ve çevresine taşınmıştır. 2006 yılı kazılarında Suriye Caddesi 'ndeki Doğu Bizans Kapısı 'nın Güney Kulesi 'nde ve 2007 yılı kazı­larında A Evi 'nde kazıma-kabartılı tabaklar (champleve ıvares) bulunmuştur. Söz konusu kapı ve ilişkili surlar 4. yüzyıl sonlarında ve 5. yüzyıl başlarında inşa edilmiştir. Güney Kule'de iiç figürlü tabak ve dördüncüsüne ait parçalarla birlikte İmparator fi. Justinus'un (565-578) 575'e tarihlenen bir sikkesi ve İmparator Focas'ın (602-610) 605-606'ya tarihlenen bir sikkesi bulunmuştur. Diğer figürlü tabağın bulun­duğu A Evi'nde ise İmparator Anastasius'un (491-518) ve fi. Justinus'un (565-578) sikkeleri aynı kontekstte ele geçmiştir. Bu dört tabak ve parçaları Erken Bizans Dönemi 'nin ünik eserleridir. İlk tabakta ata binmiş bir figür elindeki kılıçla bir aslana saldırmaktadır. İkici tabakta bir aslana saldıran iki köpek, üçüncüsünde bir at ve dördüncü tabağa ait parçalarda himationlu bir adam, bir erkek başı ve balıklar betimlenmiştir. Fi­gürlerin dışında kalan alanlar kazınmış, böylece zemine göre kabarık kalmış olan figürlerin iç ayrıntıları kazıma çizgi ve noktalarla vurgulanmıştır. Kabarık halka şeklindeki dudaklar, sığ gövdeler ve yüksek kaidelerle karakterize olan formları döneme özgüdür ve Sardeis'teki haçlı tabaklarla ve Saraçhane ka­zılarında bulunmuş bir parçayla uyumludur. Laodikeia kazıma-kabartılı tabakları 6. yüzyıl ortası ile 7. yüzyıl başları arasına tarihlenen ünik lokal üretimlerdir. Tabaklardaki aslan avı sahnesi Doğu toplumlarına özgü bir betimlemedir. Özellikle 4-7. yüzyıllar arasın­da, bu tip betimlemelere Sasani gümüş tabaklarında sık rastlanır., Laodiceia lies on the wesı edge of Phrygia. The modern villages incorporated within its territory are Eskihisar, Goncalı and Bozburun. An important city of Lycos (Çürüksu) Valley, laodiceia, was founded by Antiochus II sometime before 253 B.C. and was named for his wife laodice. lts geographical importance derives /rom its position at the crossroads of routes /rom Central and Southern Anatolia with routes leading west. The wealth of Laodiceia hinged also on its active role in the textile irade. The city suffered from frequent earthquakes throughout its history. Following an earthquake during the time of Focas (602- 6/0), the settlement moved to the district of Kaleiçi in Denizli and its nearby areas. The engraved-swelled plates (champleve wares) werefound in the South Tower of the East Byzantine Gate locaıed on ıhe Syria Street during 2006 and A Evi (House A) 2007 excavations. This gate and its ıvalls ıvere constructed at the end of 4th century and beginning of 5th century. Three figured plates and part of afoıırth ıvere found inside the Souıh Toıver, together ıvith a coin of Emperor Justinus II (565-578) dated to 575 and a coin of Emperor Focas (602-610) dated to 605-606. Onefigured plate fragment was found inside the A Evi (House A); together with coins of Emperors Anastasius (491-518) and Justinus II (565-578). These four p/ates and ils fragments are unique artifacts which belong ıo Early Byzantine Period. On thefirst plate, there is afigure riding a horse and attacking a /ion with a sword held in his hands, and a dog. On the second plate, ıwo dogs are atıacking a lion, on the third plate, a horse is represented; and on the fourıh plate fragment, a man with himation, a man head and fishes are represented. The rest of ıhe representation areas are engraved: by the way, the swelled background was composed and its details given by engraved lines and points. Their swollen ring-shaped rims, shallow bodies and high bases-all characterisıic of the period-shoıv similarities lviıh ıhe crossed plate found in Sardis and with pieces from the Saraçhane excavations. laodiceian engraved-swelled plates are unique loca! products ıvhich belong ıo the middle of 6th century and to the beginning of the l'h century. The lion hunt scene on the plates is a representation peculiar to the Eastern communities. Especially during 4th-l'h centuries. these kinds of representations were frequent/y depicted on Sasanian si/ver plates.

At one time it was generally assumed, even by distinguished Byzantinists, that the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453 put a sudden stop to the production of all objects of quality in the East Christian world, and that after that date Byzantine art at once degenerated into a peasant art throughout the whole of the area touched by the Turks. Recent research has, however, led to some modification of this view, and though work of the same superb quality as that produced in the great middle period of Byzantine art was not executed, we now know that in addition to painted icons, such things as embroideries, carved reliquaries, crosses of chased metal work or champlevé enamel and objects in bone or even ivory, were produced, which were by no means negligible from the artistic standpoint. Their production continued, moreover, through the sixteenth and earlier seventeenth centuries; only after that date did Christian art in Greece and the Balkans assume an essentially ‘peasant’ character. It is indeed to the sixteenth century that the greater number of painted icons that are now to be found in museums and private collections in Greece are to be assigned, and though there was much hack-work, paintings of very high quality were also produced amongst them.