Pendant Cross thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Pendant Cross

1800-1867 (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. They used thin sheet gold to make impressive pieces of jewellery, and decorated them with glass stones made to look like real gems. The red stones in this pendant look like genuine garnets, but they are almost certainly doublets, made from a tiny sliver of garnet stuck to the front of a transparent glass stone.

The design of this pendant is based on a stomacher, which was a fashionable piece of jewellery among the upper classes throughout Europe in the 18th century. But the detail and execution of this piece are uniquely Italian. These pendants were part of traditional costume in northern Italy in the first half of the 19th century. The original owner would have worn it hung from a ribbon, passed through the loop at the back of the top segment.

It was bought for £3 8s. as part of the Castellani collection of Italian Peasant Jewellery at the International Exhibition, Paris, 1867.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Sheet gold set with garnets
Brief description
Gold five-part pendant set with garnets, Romagna (Italy), 1800-1867.
Physical description
Five-part pendant of thin pierced gold sheet, decorated with applied wire, and garnets in conical mounts. The lowest part of the pendant is a stylised cross. There is a loop for suspension on the back of the top segment.
Dimensions
  • Length: 14.9cm
  • Width: 5.6cm
  • Depth: 0.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • '53' (Engraved on back, behind centre stone on top segment.)
  • Crossed keys with mitre above, in oval frame. Illegible letter between crossed keys. (On the front of each part, at the side.)
    Translation
    Mark for 750 standard gold, Papal States, 1815-1870
  • 'V P' in horizontal lozenge frame, with two illegible letters between them. (On the front of each part, at the side.)
    Translation
    Mark of unidentified maker and town
Subject depicted
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. They used thin sheet gold to make impressive pieces of jewellery, and decorated them with glass stones made to look like real gems. The red stones in this pendant look like genuine garnets, but they are almost certainly doublets, made from a tiny sliver of garnet stuck to the front of a transparent glass stone.

The design of this pendant is based on a stomacher, which was a fashionable piece of jewellery among the upper classes throughout Europe in the 18th century. But the detail and execution of this piece are uniquely Italian. These pendants were part of traditional costume in northern Italy in the first half of the 19th century. The original owner would have worn it hung from a ribbon, passed through the loop at the back of the top segment.

It was bought for £3 8s. 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 7
Collection
Accession number
351-1868

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Record createdOctober 31, 2008
Record URL
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