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Breast ornament
Unknown - Enlarge image
Breast ornament
- Place of origin:
France (possibly, made)
- Date:
ca. 1620-1630 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Enamelled gold, set with 208 table-cut and triangular point-cut diamonds
- Credit Line:
Given by Dame Joan Evans
- Museum number:
M.143-1975
- Gallery location:
Jewellery, room 91, case 52, shelf C, box 1
From 1620 to 1640 fashionable women in western Europe wore a single large jewel on their bodice. This particular jewel has neither a pin nor loop fastening. It would simply have been stitched to the fabric of the gown.
The swirling botanical design is characteristic of the cosse de pois (pea pod) style. This originated in France, where ornamental designs were published featuring highly stylised arrangements of leaves, stems and buds. Balthasar Lemercier and Jacques Caillart of Paris and Peter Symony of Strasbourg made designs for goldsmiths' work in this style. The style’s popularity peaked in the 1620s and 1630s. However the taste for botanical motifs continued to evolve through the century.
