Each of the forty links of this necklace is composed of the body of two ducks, touching tails, facing in opposite directions. The clasp continues the aquatic theme--dolphins are represented head downwards, skimming along a watery surface, with their heads facing away from each other, like the orientation of the ducks. The dolphins' upright bodies and out-turned tails created a "pedestal" for a sea shell, to which the hook and eye of the clasp are attached. The links and the clasp were made by pressing in a mold. This was apparently a popular design as there are several similar necklaces in other collections.

Antiquités Égyptiennes, Collection de M. le Baron de Menascé, fév. 23-24, 1891, (Paris, 1891), no. 294, pl. VI.

Exposition internationale d'art Byzantin, exhibition catalogue, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, 28 May-9 July, 1931, (Paris, 1931), 118, no. 347.

W. F. Volbach, G. Duthuit, and G. Salles, Art byzantin, (Paris, 1933), 56, pl. 48D.

"Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection," Bulletin of the Fogg Art Museum 10.4 (1945): 108-23, esp. 108, fig. p. 117.

The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection of Harvard University, Handbook of the Collection, (Washington, D.C., 1946), 60, no. 118.

W. M. Milliken, "Exhibition of Gold," The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 34.9 (1947): 211-12, 18-35, esp. 211-212.

The Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Harvard University, (Washington, D.C., 1955), 74, no. 161, pl. p. 89.

M. C. Ross, Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, vol. 2, Jewelry, Enamels, and Art of the Migration Period, (Washington, D.C., 1965, 2nd ed. with addendum by S.A. Boyd and S. R. Zwirn, 2005), 13-14, no. 8, pl. XV, XVI.

Handbook of the Byzantine Collection, (Washington, D.C., 1967), 47, no. 161.

E. Riha, Der römische Schmuck aus Augst und Kaiseraugst, Forschungen in Augst Bd. 10 (Augst, 1990), 67-69, pl. 88.

Paris, Musée des Arts Decoratifs, "Exposition d'art byzantin," May - July 1931.

Cambridge, Fogg Museum, "A Selection of Ivories, Bronzes, Metalwork and Other Objects from the Dumbarton Oaks Collection," Nov. 15 - Dec. 31, 1945.

Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, "Exhibition of Gold," Oct. 31, 1947 - Jan. 11, 1948.

Washington, D.C., Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, “Ancient and Medieval Metalwork from Dumbarton Oaks,” Dec. 16, 2005-Apr. 1, 2007.

Collection of Baron de Ménascé.

Purchased by Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss from Kalebdjian Frères (dealers), Paris, 1928.

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, Dumbarton Oaks, 1928-1940.

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C., November 1940.

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Byzantine Collection, Washington, D.C.