Earring
ca.1870 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
These earrings and matching pendant (Loan.Gilbert.131-2008) 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
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| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Chased gold, micromosaic and pearls |
| Brief description | Earrings in shape of ewers. Micromosaic, gold and pearls, Rome, ca. 1870. |
| Physical description | A pair of earrings in the shape of an urn with a scroll handle decorated with rosettes. The body of the urn is decorated with a band of heart-shaped cannetille below a band of pearls, and the entire body is covered with colourful glass mosaic in floral and leaf motifs. From the lip of the ewers spills out three gold chains, each tipped by a pearl. |
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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 | These earrings and matching pendant (Loan.Gilbert.131-2008) 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 object | |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.132:1,2-2008 |
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| Record created | June 26, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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