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 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.

This pendant was bought for £3 4s as part of the Castellani collection of Italian Peasant Jewellery at the International Exhibition, Paris, 1867.