Jewelry

Devotional Pendant sparkling with Diamonds

The silver cross pendant consists of irregularly cut diamonds in domed settings, graduating in size and with ornamental claws: in the center a large diamond, flanked by three forming the horizontal cross arms, and seven for the vertical lower arm. The plain, flat backplate is gilded to avoid tarnishing and marking the skin/or textile when worn and finely engraved below the Roman numerals ‘XV’. Attached to the pendant loop with oval hallmark ‘CS’ (assay office code or maker’s mark? and probably French import mark in form of an owl) is an oval gold ring with same diamond-set decoration in small. Some hallmarks, are indistinct, and yet to be identified. The pendant shows signs of wear through age and is in good wearable condition.     

Literature:

Elegant and sparkling, this silver pendant reflects the prevailing eighteenth-century taste for jewelry set with gems, often enhanced by underlying foils to increase their sparkle. Jewelry at the time could feature colored gems, glass paste, rock crystal, or as in this case, diamonds. The latter became increasingly popular with the discovery of diamond mines in Brazil in the 1720s, which lead to their increased popularity and in part, affordability. Similar designs were found all over Western Europe (cf. cross pendant set with rock crystal, instead of diamonds, in the British Museum, London, Hugh Tait, ed., The Art of the Jeweller, A Catalogue of the Hull-Grundy Gift to the British Museum, London 1984, no. 75, English, mid-18th century).

 J-89129