Treasure as trinkets: Zendaya’s earrings renew debate on ownership of ancient artefacts

Lead

At a London photocall for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Zendaya, who plays the goddess Athena, wore a pair of earrings fashioned from Iranian artefacts dating back to 700BC. The choice has drawn swift criticism from archaeologists, who argue that using precious and culturally significant artefacts as accessories amounts to a “hijacking” of Iran’s contributions to humanity.

The earrings belong to Barron London, a Mayfair-based gallery and dealer whose website states: “With a reputation for discretion, the gallery works privately with collectors, estates and institutions to uncover and place pieces of significance.” According to a formal statement from Barron, the artefacts were bought from another London jeweller, Glenn Spiro, in 2025, and “are attributed to the Ziwiye hoard, discovered in north-western Iran in the late 1940s”.

Coverage Comparison

The story has been covered by The Guardian, which reports on the controversy from two angles. One report focuses on the outrage expressed by archaeologists and art historians, framing the incident as a symptom of a broader lack of cultural knowledge among those who dress and accessorise celebrities. The other report highlights the legal and ethical complexities surrounding the antiquities trade, emphasising the petition launched against Barron London and the challenges of establishing ownership of ancient objects.

Both reports draw on expert opinions and formal statements, and both mention the broader context of disputes over cultural heritage, including the British Museum’s dealings with looted Benin bronzes, sacred Ethiopian altar tablets, and the Parthenon marbles.

Key Claims

• Zendaya wore earrings made from Iranian artefacts dating back to 700BC, as reported by The Guardian.
• The earrings are owned by Barron London, a Mayfair-based gallery and dealer.
• The artefacts were purchased from another London jeweller, Glenn Spiro, in 2025.
• The earrings are attributed to the Ziwiye hoard, discovered in north-western Iran in the late 1940s. The hoard, found in 1947, was looted by shepherds; according to a 2015 research paper, surviving pieces were “sold in antique markets out of Iran in the 1960s” and “are now scattered in different museums and private collections”.
• Archaeologists have criticised the use of precious and culturally significant artefacts as accessories, with some calling it a “hijacking” of Iran’s cultural heritage.
• A petition has been launched calling for Barron London to publish the complete known provenance of the gold plaques, reveal the checks they undertook on the legality of the items, permit examination of the objects, and even suspend sale.
• The legalities around establishing who owns ancient items can be complex. Most so-called source countries for antiquities now have state ownership laws in place, declaring that ancient objects discovered belong to the state.
• The Koh-i-Noor diamond is cited as a notorious example of an ownership dispute.

Perspectives

Archaeologists and academics: Prof Sussan Babaie, an Iranian-born art historian and Courtauld Institute professor, said it was “shocking to see that no one thought maybe this is not a good idea”. Expressing “outrage” that Zendaya was wearing the ancient objects, she said: “There is not enough cultural knowledge and cultural sensibility among those who dress [celebrities], those who accessorise them, those who put them up as the symbols of beauty and power and an expression of the movie’s high-mindedness.”

Barron London: The gallery states that the earrings celebrate “the remarkable artistry of ancient Persian goldsmiths” and encourage “wider appreciation of one of the world’s great artistic traditions.”

Petition organisers: Romina Frohar, founder of the Forensic Archive of Iran, an independent investigative archive documenting threats to Iran’s cultural heritage, set up the petition. The archive is pressing for full provenance disclosure and legal scrutiny.

Antiquities experts: Dr Christos Tsirogiannis, an antiquities expert at the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, said: “Personally, after all these two and a half decades of continued scandals emerging everywhere about all sorts of illicit antiquities … I’m extremely surprised, negatively surprised, that no one among all these people that escort these celebrities said something to protect her.”