ELECTRUM

Form: Gr. Elektron.

This word had two meanings in antiquity. (1) A mixture of gold and silver in the proportion of about 4:1. (2) Amber, the use of which in ornamentation was known to the Greeks as early as the Homeric age through their trade with Phoecenicia. In later times, mainly through the overland trade, amber was brought down from the Baltic to the months of the Po, and from thence farther south. In the classical times it seems to have been only in exceptional cases that amber was applied to the uses of art; and as Greek influence increased, the taste for it disappeared in Italy. It was only towards the end of the republican age that it gradually came into favour again, and then as a material for ladies' ornaments, such as bracelets, pins and rings, and for adorning bedsteads and similar furniture. Under the Empire it was more fashionable than it had ever been. The white, wax-coloured sort was accounted the worst, and was only used for fumigation. The ruddy amber, especially if transparent, found more favour; the bright yellow, of the colour of Falernian wine, was liked best of all. The natural colour was sometimes intensified or altered by artificial means.