Earring
Earring
1800-1867 (made)
1800-1867 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This earring was bought new (with its pair) at the Paris International Exhibition of 1867, for 18 shillings and 10 pence. The Museum had bought the Castellani Collection of Italian Peasant Jewellery at the same exhibition, and chose jewellery in the traditional style from other countries to show the differences and similarities between different cultures. The main purpose of all these acquisitions was to help improve the quality of design among British artisans.
This earring was described as ‘modern Turkish, from Tripoly’, when it was acquired. The Tripoli in question must be the Libyan city as it is typical of the kind of jewellery worn there in the 19th century, and carries numerous silver marks in use in the Tripoli region. At that time the Ottoman Empire extended along much of the North African coast, although its authority was often only nominal, as in Egypt.
This earring was described as ‘modern Turkish, from Tripoly’, when it was acquired. The Tripoli in question must be the Libyan city as it is typical of the kind of jewellery worn there in the 19th century, and carries numerous silver marks in use in the Tripoli region. At that time the Ottoman Empire extended along much of the North African coast, although its authority was often only nominal, as in Egypt.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Earring (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Cast silver with coral beads |
| Brief description | Large silver pendent earring with numerous pierced pendants with coral beads, Tripoli (Libya), 1800-1867. |
| Physical description | Silver penannular earring with a thick wire, with a point at one end, which widens at the bottom to form a flat strip pierced with six holes with seven loops along its lower edge. There are seven pendants hanging from the seven loops. The central pendant is a flat pierced triangle with three smaller pendants hanging from its lower edge: a pillar shape with a coiled wire on either side with two coral beads. There is a similar, slightly smaller, triangular pendant on either side of the central one, with the same subsidiary pendants. The other holes are filled with two coiled wires with coral beads, and two pillars. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 'M' in a circular beaded frame. (Struck eight times, partially: on the front of the pierced lower part of the earring; on the front of the two smaller triangular pendants; and on the five pillar-shaped pendants.) |
| Summary | This earring was bought new (with its pair) at the Paris International Exhibition of 1867, for 18 shillings and 10 pence. The Museum had bought the Castellani Collection of Italian Peasant Jewellery at the same exhibition, and chose jewellery in the traditional style from other countries to show the differences and similarities between different cultures. The main purpose of all these acquisitions was to help improve the quality of design among British artisans. This earring was described as ‘modern Turkish, from Tripoly’, when it was acquired. The Tripoli in question must be the Libyan city as it is typical of the kind of jewellery worn there in the 19th century, and carries numerous silver marks in use in the Tripoli region. At that time the Ottoman Empire extended along much of the North African coast, although its authority was often only nominal, as in Egypt. |
| Bibliographic reference | Illustrated in:
'Italian Jewellery as worn by The Peasants of Italy. Collected by Signor Castellani, and purchased from the Paris Universal Exhibition for The South Kensington Museum', London, Arundel Society for Promoting the Knowledge of Art, 1868, plate 12, 'Peasant Jewellery. Modern Turkish, Norwegian, Danish', where it and its original pair were included under:
'A collection of Modern Turkish Popular Jewellery. Bought in the Turkish section of the Paris Exhibition, 1867. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 581-1868 |
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| Record created | April 9, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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