Locket thumbnail 1
Locket thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Jewellery, Rooms 91, The William and Judith Bollinger Gallery

Locket

1492-1550 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Sword locket, copper-gilt with cloisonné enamel.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gilded copper alloy, with granulation and cloisonné enamel
Brief description
Sword locket, gilded copper alloy, with granulation and cloisonné enamel, made in Spain, probably Granada
Physical description
Sword locket, copper-gilt with cloisonné enamel.
Dimensions
  • Height: 7.3cm
  • Width: 14.6cm
  • Depth: 1.4cm
Style
Credit line
Given by Dame Joan Evans
Object history
Originally dated to pre 1853 and associated with similar pieces believed to be owned by the last Nasrid Sultan, Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad XII, or 'Boabdil'. The meaningless inscription and sixteenth century-style enamel, however, point to a re-attribution as a sixteenth century 'trophy', made to show off to posterity the owners' heroic involvement in 'Reconquista'. Wealthy Iberians were seduced by the sophistication of Islamic art, and these tastes prevailed into the sixteenth century and beyond the conquest of Granada in 1492. (M. Rosser-Owen, 2010).
Bibliographic reference
M. Rosser-Owen. Islamic Arts from Spain (London: V&A Publishing, 2010).
Collection
Accession number
M.58-1975

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Record createdMay 5, 2005
Record URL
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