Elizabeth Gage has been an important figure in British jewellery since the 1970s, admired for her distinctive interpretations of a wide range of historical and cultural styles. Her jewellery is both glamorous and subtle, and remains highly wearable despite its bold scale.

Born in 1937, Elizabeth studied at Chelsea School of Art and the Sir John Cass College in the 1960s, and in 1968 designed a collection for Cartier, New York. In 1972 she won the De Beers International Diamond Award. Her business expanded rapidly during the 1980s, and by 1989 when she was awarded the Queen's Award for Export Achievement she employed twenty-five full-time staff. In 2008 Elizabeth was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Retail Jeweller, and in the 2017 Birthday Honours she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to business.

The necklace was designed by Elizabeth in 1988, and with her earlier brooch and earrings of 1967 and 1970, completes a favourite set of jewellery which remained in her personal collection until she presented it to the Museum in 2023. All three pieces incorporate the oval black seals she acquired in Crete in the mid-1960s when she worked with a Greek jeweller over the course of two summers. The black cylinders of the necklace chain were specially carved in London to resemble ancient cylinder seals. Celebrated for her sympathetic interpretations of diverse historical periods, Elizabeth and has written of the influence of early Greek jewellery on her work. In this matching set of brooch, earrings and necklace she has re-invented the archaeological style in the modern idiom.