Earring thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Earring

ca. 1808 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

By tradition this piece, part of a set, is believed to have belonged to Caroline Murat (1782-1839), Queen of Naples. Their accompanying leather box is stamped with a crowned 'C' in gold.

Documentary evidence in the archives of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence and in the archives in Naples suggest that this parure, or set of jewelry, may have been produced in either centre. Hardstone mosaic techniques (commessi di pietre dure) emerged in Florence, where Ferdinand de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, founded the Grand Ducal workshop (Opificio delle Pietre Dure) in 1588. It still operates today under the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage.

The production of stone mosaics with the Florentine technique began in Naples in the seventeenth century primarily in response to commissions for ecclesiastical objects to adorn church interiors and devotional objects. In 1737 an official court workshop, Real Laboratorio delle Pietre Dure, was established in Naples by Charles VII (King of Naples and later Charles III of Spain).The technique, however, is of extremely fine quality and in the vein of the production from the Florentine Grand Ducal workshops.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Earring
  • Earring
Materials and techniques
Commessi di pietre dure (hardstone mosaics), lapis lazuli, chalcedony, calcedonio di Volterra (some burnt to deepen the colour) gold; the ‘pearls’ made from half-beads of rock crystal, set with the flat surface up, and the underside coated with silver leaf
Brief description
Gold and stone mosaic earring, Naples or Florence, ca. 1808.
Physical description
Gold earring set with lapis lazuli plaque with shells and pearls in stone mosaic, the plaques set a-jour on fossilized coral
Dimensions
  • Length: 5.6cm
  • Pendant width: 2cm
Measured 04/03/24 IW
Gallery label
  • 2. Necklace, comb, earrings and tiara with shells About 1808 This jewellery probably belonged to Caroline Murat (1782–1839), Queen of Naples. The original case with the crowned letter ‘C’ is also part of the Gilbert’s collection. The ‘pearls’ are made from rock crystal half-beads. Set with their flat surfaces up, their curved underside is coated in silver leaf. Naples or Florence, Italy Gold, with pietre dure (hardstone mosaic) panels of lapis lazuli and chalcedony Museum nos. Loan:Gilbert.165 to 168:1, 2-2008(16/11/2016)
  • Necklace, comb, earrings and tiara with shells About 1808 This jewellery is believed to have belonged to Caroline Murat (1782–1839), Queen of Naples. Naples or Florence, Italy Gold, with pietre dure (hardstone mosaic) panels of lapis lazuli and chalcedony Museum nos. Loan:Gilbert.165 to 168:1, 2-2008(2009)
Credit line
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Object history
Provenance: Probably Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples. Delessert family. Marthe Bocher. Jacques Kugel, Paris, 1975.
Production
Documentary evidence in the archives of the Opificio in Florence and in the archives in Naples both suggest that the parure may have been produced in either centre.
Subjects depicted
Summary
By tradition this piece, part of a set, is believed to have belonged to Caroline Murat (1782-1839), Queen of Naples. Their accompanying leather box is stamped with a crowned 'C' in gold.

Documentary evidence in the archives of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence and in the archives in Naples suggest that this parure, or set of jewelry, may have been produced in either centre. Hardstone mosaic techniques (commessi di pietre dure) emerged in Florence, where Ferdinand de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, founded the Grand Ducal workshop (Opificio delle Pietre Dure) in 1588. It still operates today under the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage.

The production of stone mosaics with the Florentine technique began in Naples in the seventeenth century primarily in response to commissions for ecclesiastical objects to adorn church interiors and devotional objects. In 1737 an official court workshop, Real Laboratorio delle Pietre Dure, was established in Naples by Charles VII (King of Naples and later Charles III of Spain).The technique, however, is of extremely fine quality and in the vein of the production from the Florentine Grand Ducal workshops.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Lenti, Lia, and Bergesio, Maria Cristina. Dizionario del Gioiello Italiano del XIX e XX Secolo. Turin: Allemandi 2006, p.77.
  • Arte e Manifattura di corte a Firenze dal tramonto dei Medici all'Impero (1732-1815). Exhibition Catalogue. Florence: Palazzo Pitti/Palazzina della Meridiana 2006, pp. 252, 253, no. 170 and images.
  • Giusti, Anna Maria. Pietre Dure and the Art of Florentine Inlay. London: Thames & Hudson 2006, p. 216, pl. 173.
  • Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar. The Art of Mosaics: Selections from the Gilbert Collection. Exhibition catalogue. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art 1977, no. 30.
  • Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar and Steffi Röttgen with essays by Steffi Röttgen, Claudia Przyborowski; essays and new catalogue material translated by Alla Theodora Hall. The Art of Mosaics: Selections from the Gilbert Collection. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1982. 224 p., ill. Cat. no. 32. ISBN 0875871097
  • Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar, Mosaici e pietre dure, Mosaici a piccole tessere. Milan: Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri 1982, pp. 69-70.
  • Wheeler, Daniel, ed. with introduction by Alexis Gregory. Princely Taste: Treasures from Great Private Collections. Exhibition catalogue, Jerusalem: Israel Museum, vol. 369, 1995, p. 77.
  • 'Conversation with an Avid Collector: an Interview about the Collection of Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert'. Catalogue for Designers West 34, no. 5, Los Angeles, March 1987, p.120.
  • Giusti, Anna Maria, Pietre Dure: L'arte europea del mosaico negli arredi e nelle decorazioni dal 1500 al 1800. Turin: Allemandi, 1992, pp. 235, 246.
  • Massinelli, Anna Maria with contributions by Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel. Hardstones: The Gilbert Collection. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd. in association with The Gilbert Collection, 2000. 329 p., ill. Cat. no. 87, pp. 201-202. ISBN 0856675105.
  • Koeppe, Wolfram and Annamaria Giusti.with contributions by Cristina Acidini ... [et al.] ; edited by Wolfram Koeppe. Art of the Royal Court. Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe.. New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art ; New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, c2008, p. 317, cat. no. 125.
Other number
MM 186D - Arthur Gilbert Number
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:GILBERT.168:1, 2-2008

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Record createdJune 26, 2008
Record URL
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