Earring
1750-1850 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Earrings of this kind, with pendants representing a highly stylised jar and always with the same core design however much overlaid with additional elements, are probably of Venetian origin. They were part of the traditional costume throughout northern Italy, in places such as Friuli, and were also worn in the Venetian territories on the eastern coast of the Adriatic, in what is now Montenegro. They are also found in the Greek islands of the Aegean, such as the Cyclades and Dodecanese, where they are sometimes enamelled.
These were described as late 16th century Venetian when they were acquired by the Museum in 1900, but as they were found in Patmos it seems just as likely that they are Greek, from the late 18th or 19th century.
These were described as late 16th century Venetian when they were acquired by the Museum in 1900, but as they were found in Patmos it seems just as likely that they are Greek, from the late 18th or 19th century.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Gold filigree with pearl pendants |
| Brief description | Pair of gold filigree pendants for earrings with numerous pearl drops, Patmos (Greece), 1750-1850. |
| Physical description | Pair of gold filigree pendants for earrings. Each is vase-shaped with a wide shallow sphere at the base and an open filigree bead at the top linked to it by a short tube. Four struts of flat ribbon link the perimeters of each sphere on the outside. There are eight bunches of wired pearls hanging down from the circumference of the lower sphere, with a ninth in the centre of its bottom side, and there are four irregular pearls on the top of the lower sphere, between the struts. The body of the pendant is made of thin sheet gold decorated with applied wire. |
| Summary | Earrings of this kind, with pendants representing a highly stylised jar and always with the same core design however much overlaid with additional elements, are probably of Venetian origin. They were part of the traditional costume throughout northern Italy, in places such as Friuli, and were also worn in the Venetian territories on the eastern coast of the Adriatic, in what is now Montenegro. They are also found in the Greek islands of the Aegean, such as the Cyclades and Dodecanese, where they are sometimes enamelled. These were described as late 16th century Venetian when they were acquired by the Museum in 1900, but as they were found in Patmos it seems just as likely that they are Greek, from the late 18th or 19th century. |
| Bibliographic reference | For similar Italian earrings, see:
Pazzi, Piero, ‘Gioielli delle Bocche di Cattaro: Perasto, Dobrota, Scagliari e Perzagno’, Venice, 2010, pp.12, 99.
Gri, Gian Paolo, Cantarutti, ‘La collezione Perusini: ori, gioielli e amuleti tradizionali’, Casamassima, 1997, p.109.
Luca, Stefano de (ed.), ‘L’Ornamento prezioso’, Rome, De Luca/Milano, Mondadori, 1986, tab.53.
For Greek examples, see:
Historical & Ethnological Society of Greece, ‘Greek costumes’, Athens, 1993, pp.50-51.
Delivorrias, Angelos, ‘Greek Traditional Jewelry’, Athens, Melissa Publishing House/Benaki Museum, 1979, reprinted 1999. ISBN 9602040513, p.26.
Historical & Ethnological Society of Greece, ‘Kosmimata tis Ellinikis paradosiakis foresias 1800-1900’, Athens, 1995, p.52. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 889&A-1900 |
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| Record created | September 12, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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