Pair of gold pendent earrings, enamelled in red, white and green, with pearl pendants, Southern Italy, 1800-1899.

Pair of gold enamelled pendant earrings with pearl decoration. Each earring has a hinged wire with a flat pierced plaque attached to its front, covered with wired seed pearls. Two pendants, consisting of graduated pearls arranged vertically on a wire, hang either side of the main pendant from its lower edge. This main pendant is shaped like a crescent, with the rounded edge at the base, and a peak in the centre of the top edge, between the tips of the crescent, to attach it to the upper part of the earring. It is enamelled red, white and green on the front, and plain green on the back. There are five pearl pendants, similar to those attached to the top part, hanging from its lower edge. On all the pearl pendants the end of the wire is wrapped round the top in a spiral, after forming the suspension loop, and on those hanging from the lower part there is a tiny ring of white enamel beads over this spiral.

Murray Bequest

These earrings were described as 17th century Sicilian, along with several other pairs of earrings, when they were acquired by the Museum in 1910. However, the quality of the enamel, and the colours used, are not typical of Sicilian work of that date, and it is more likely that they were made much later.

M.989&A-1910