Pendant
1870 (made)
Place of origin |
This pendant and its matching earrings (Loan.Gilbert.132:1,2-2008) are not based on a surviving ancient model, but are a freer adaptation of classical jewellery found by archaeologists. Quirky novelties were fashionable in jewellery at the time. The designer has miniaturised the ewer form and decorated it with brightly coloured mosaic.
The term 'micromosaic' is used to describe mosaics made of the smallest glass pieces. Some micromosaics contain more than 5000 pieces per square inch. The earliest attempts at micromosaic revealed visible joins between the pieces (known as tesserae) and a lack of perspective. Later artists such as Antonio Aguatti made huge advances in micromosaic technique, resulting in renderings that were truer to life. Glass micromosaic technique developed in the 18th century, in the Vatican Mosaic Workshop in Rome, where they still undertake restoration work today.
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.
The term 'micromosaic' is used to describe mosaics made of the smallest glass pieces. Some micromosaics contain more than 5000 pieces per square inch. The earliest attempts at micromosaic revealed visible joins between the pieces (known as tesserae) and a lack of perspective. Later artists such as Antonio Aguatti made huge advances in micromosaic technique, resulting in renderings that were truer to life. Glass micromosaic technique developed in the 18th century, in the Vatican Mosaic Workshop in Rome, where they still undertake restoration work today.
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 3 parts.
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Materials and techniques | Gold, pearls, glass. |
Brief description | Pendant in shape of ewer. Micromosaic, gold and pearls, Rome, ca. 1870. |
Physical description | Pendant in the shape of an urn with a scroll handle decorated with rosettes and surmounted by a griffin's head. The body of the urn is decorated with a band of heart-shaped cannetille below a band of pearls, the entire body covered with colourful glass mosaic in floral and leaf motifs, the lip of the ewer spilling out three gold chains tipped by a pearl. The pendant is suspended from a old chain by a broad loop similarly decorated. |
Dimensions |
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Gallery label |
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Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
Object history | Provenance Acquired by Arthur Gilbert from S.J. Phillips Ltd, London, 1976 Historical significance: The pieces are decorated using ancient techniques, cannetille and glass mosaics. Cannetille is a decoration, sometimes in gold, on decorative objects consisting of wire twisted to form filigree-like scrolls and rosettes. |
Historical context | This set is in an archaeological style of jewellery introduced by the Roman workshop Castellani in the nineteenth century. |
Subject depicted | |
Summary | This pendant and its matching earrings (Loan.Gilbert.132:1,2-2008) are not based on a surviving ancient model, but are a freer adaptation of classical jewellery found by archaeologists. Quirky novelties were fashionable in jewellery at the time. The designer has miniaturised the ewer form and decorated it with brightly coloured mosaic. The term 'micromosaic' is used to describe mosaics made of the smallest glass pieces. Some micromosaics contain more than 5000 pieces per square inch. The earliest attempts at micromosaic revealed visible joins between the pieces (known as tesserae) and a lack of perspective. Later artists such as Antonio Aguatti made huge advances in micromosaic technique, resulting in renderings that were truer to life. Glass micromosaic technique developed in the 18th century, in the Vatican Mosaic Workshop in Rome, where they still undertake restoration work today. 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 |
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Other number | MM 297 - Arthur Gilbert Number |
Collection | |
Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.131:1 to 3-2008 |
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Record created | June 26, 2008 |
Record URL |
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