Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Small Adornments

Earrings
Egypt
AD 100-200
gold, pearls
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Ring
Greece
400-300 BC
engraved silver with gold plug
Nike fastening her sandal
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Earring
Greece
3rd-1st century BC
gold, garnet, pearl
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Earring
Greece
2nd century BC
gold, ivory, pearls, emeralds, garnets
Victoria & Albert Museum, London 

Pendant
Egypt
rock-crystal fish carved AD 900-1000
silver-gilt mount added in Paris ca. 1300
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

"The crystal is Islamic (Fatimid period), carved in the form of a fish with a fin at the top, decorated with diaper pattern, and two carved fins below. The body ends in a stylized tail with a ribbed ring around. A narrow carved collar figures the gills at the neck, and a deep tube is pierced down the center. The head was cut off when the fish was mounted as a pendant in Western Europe. The mounts consist of a molded rim of silver gilt, decorated with a pattern of leaves reserved in the metal on a nielloed ground. The mouth is engraved with an insrciption in Lombardic letters AVE MARIA GRACIA PL[E]NA, these letters nielloed. The crystal is held by four moulded spurs descending from the rim. To the left and right spurs, which are shorter, are attached moulded suspension rings closed by a screw stopper to whose knob is attached a suspension loop. The base, upper ends of the body, and the ends of the fins are chipped. It is possible that the end of the tail was ground down to its present shape when the fish was mounted as a pendant."  

 curator's notes from the Victoria & Albert Museum

Ring
Western Europe
ca. 1725-75
antique Roman agate-cameo set in gold
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Freemason's Ring
England
ca. 1750-55
emeralds set in gold, diamonds set in silver
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Ring of the Order of the Garter
England
ca. 1730-70
enameled-gold, diamonds, portrait under rock-crystal
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Ring
Germany
ca. 1350-1400
silver and silver-gilt, engraved
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Ring
Italy
ca. 1660
enameled-gold, rock-crystal
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Ring
England
1706
enameled-gold, diamonds
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Ring
Spain
ca. 1575-1650
gold, rock-crystals, mirrored-glass
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Ring
Spain
ca. 1700-1750
gold, diamonds with radiating gadroons
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Amulet
Spain
19th century
dolphin-bone in silver mount
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

"The use of a fish's ear bone as an amulet dates back to Roman times. It was believed to be especially efficacious against eye and stomach problems. In France they were called 'colic stones' . . .Many people believed that the supernatural powers embodied in an amulet could promote fertility and good health and offer protection against malign forces or the 'evil eye'. Although the Catholic Church was opposed to the pagan nature of many amulets, it was powerless to prevent their use."

 curator's notes from the Victoria & Albert Museum