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Bracelet
Unknown - Enlarge image
Bracelet
- Place of origin:
Italy (made)
- Date:
ca. 1850 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Carved coral and gold
- Credit Line:
Given by Mrs W. Le Roy
- Museum number:
M.126-1984
- Gallery location:
Jewellery, room 91, case 19, shelf B, box 4
Coral, formed by the skeletons of marine creatures, has been used in jewellery since antiquity. It was originally used as an amulet, believed to protect the wearer against the evil eye and was often worn by small children. In the mid 19th century, it began to be used in conventional jewellery.
This jewel, with intricately carved flowers and woven basket-like bracelet is a good example of the type of naturalistic jewellery popular in the mid 19th century. Coral could be carved or used in its natural form, exploiting the appeal of its spiky branches.
Most coral in Europe came from the sea around Naples and nearby Torre del Greco. In the 19th century it became a fashionable souvenir, partly because people could travel more once the Napoleonic wars had ended in 1815.
