Gold filigree necklace with enamelled pendant filigree Maltese cross, Oporto (Portugal), 1865-1870.

Articulated gold necklace with pendent Maltese cross. The necklace consists of a series of open rings made from curved ribbon wire, arranged as if they were to be threaded on a thick thread, with the edge of the ring facing out. The edges of the rings are alternately patterned with a series of engraved zigzags, and a hammered effect. There is a loop attached at the top and bottom of each ring. The rings are joined together by small loops of ribbon wire connecting the loops at the top and bottom of each ring. These joining loops are each decorated with an applied coil ring on the front. At the ends of the necklace the last three rings on each side are soldered together to form the base of a snap clasp.

The pendant is made of filigree in the shape of a Maltese cross, with swallow-tail ends, and motifs in the interstices between the arms. There is a disc of gold, with a flower in the centre enamelled in dark blue on white, riveted to the cross in the centre. This central disc is surrounded by a circle of small coil rings. Rosettes of filigree and sheet gold are soldered to the inner ends of the arms and to the motifs between the arms. There is a triangular loop at the top of the cross, for suspension, to which is attached a large decorative filigree loop.

Spain and Portugal were intensely Catholic in the 17th century, the heartland of the Counter Reformation that set out to reinvigorate the Roman Catholic Church. Traditional jewellery often incorporated Catholic religious symbols, such as the cross and heart.

In northern Portugal the most popular cross was a Maltese cross made of gold filigree, often with a blue and white enamelled flower in the centre, as here. The conical spirals which cover the front of the cross were a speciality of the goldsmiths of Gondomar.

This example was bought for six guineas (£6 6s.) at the International Exhibition, London, 1872.

1072-1873