Earring
1750-1850 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Italian women have always loved lavish display, and, even for the poorest, a rich show of jewellery was critical to their appearance. The most important item was a pair of gold earrings. Their shapes varied widely in different places. These earrings, with their delicate filigree design and pendants of bunches of grapes made from seed pearls, are typical of the kind worn in the Veneto, the area around Venice.
They may also have come from further east. Similar jewellery was worn with traditional costume throughout the old Venetian colonies of the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean, and earrings like these survive in the treasuries of many churches in the region.
They may also have come from further east. Similar jewellery was worn with traditional costume throughout the old Venetian colonies of the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean, and earrings like these survive in the treasuries of many churches in the region.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Sheet gold with applied filigree and seed pearls |
| Brief description | Pair of gold earrings with seed pearl pendants like bunches of grapes, Venice (Italy), 1750-1850. |
| Physical description | Pair of gold earrings decorated with seed pearls. Each earring consists of a palmette of pierced and layered sheet gold attached to a straight wire. The palmette is decorated on its front with applied filigree and seed pearls attached by wires. There is a seed pearl rosette in its centre. Three conical pendants, looking like bunches of grapes, hang from its lower edge; two small either side of a larger one. Each cone has a sheet gold top, decorated with applied gold wire, as on the palmette, and the body of the cone is covered by wired seed pearls. |
| Summary | Italian women have always loved lavish display, and, even for the poorest, a rich show of jewellery was critical to their appearance. The most important item was a pair of gold earrings. Their shapes varied widely in different places. These earrings, with their delicate filigree design and pendants of bunches of grapes made from seed pearls, are typical of the kind worn in the Veneto, the area around Venice. They may also have come from further east. Similar jewellery was worn with traditional costume throughout the old Venetian colonies of the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean, and earrings like these survive in the treasuries of many churches in the region. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 163&A-1895 |
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| Record created | September 12, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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