Earring
1812-1867 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Italian women have always loved lavish display. Even for the poorest, a rich show of jewellery was all important. Italian goldsmiths were expert at making a little material go a very long way. Many pieces seem too large to wear comfortably, but they are usually made of very thin gold, and are much lighter than they appear.
All Italian women wore gold earrings. Their shapes varied widely in different places. These earrings come from the Veneto, the area around Venice. Venice had been famous since the Middle Ages for its fine gold and filigree work. The design of these earrings, with a stylised jar hanging from a palmette, may date back to Classical times. Similar earrings are found throughout the old Venetian colonies of the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean.
This earring was bought as part of the Castellani collection of Italian Peasant Jewellery at the International Exhibition, Paris, 1867.
All Italian women wore gold earrings. Their shapes varied widely in different places. These earrings come from the Veneto, the area around Venice. Venice had been famous since the Middle Ages for its fine gold and filigree work. The design of these earrings, with a stylised jar hanging from a palmette, may date back to Classical times. Similar earrings are found throughout the old Venetian colonies of the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean.
This earring was bought as part of the Castellani collection of Italian Peasant Jewellery at the International Exhibition, Paris, 1867.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Sheet gold |
| Brief description | Pair of gold earrings with vase-shaped pendant of thin sheet gold, Venice (Italy), 1812-1867. |
| Physical description | Pair of gold earrings, with a straight wire with a flat palmette of thin sheet metal attached to the front. There is a central vase-shaped pendant hanging from the base of the palmette, between two small cylindrical pendants. Nine more cylindrical pendants hang from the base of the vase. |
| Marks and inscriptions | sword in a shaped frame (On the back of the palmette, on the wire, and on the suspension ring of the pendant.)
|
| Summary | Italian women have always loved lavish display. Even for the poorest, a rich show of jewellery was all important. Italian goldsmiths were expert at making a little material go a very long way. Many pieces seem too large to wear comfortably, but they are usually made of very thin gold, and are much lighter than they appear. All Italian women wore gold earrings. Their shapes varied widely in different places. These earrings come from the Veneto, the area around Venice. Venice had been famous since the Middle Ages for its fine gold and filigree work. The design of these earrings, with a stylised jar hanging from a palmette, may date back to Classical times. Similar earrings are found throughout the old Venetian colonies of the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean. This earring was bought as part of the Castellani collection of Italian Peasant Jewellery at the International Exhibition, Paris, 1867. |
| Bibliographic reference | 'Italian Jewellery as worn by the Peasants of Italy', Arundel Society, London, 1868, Plate 3 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 65&A-1868 |
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| Record created | February 8, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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