Morning Star Of The Dark Night

Baroque Silver Cross Pendant, Natural Pearls & Garnets, Circa 1740

€ 1,390.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Baroque Silver Cross Pendant, Natural Pearls & Garnets, Circa 1740

Description

This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!

Morning star of the dark night, who makes the world full of joy, Jesus mine, come in, shine in my heart's shrine. (Johann Scheffler) No other decorative motif of the 18th century was as emblematic of an entire era as the cross. It was both a symbol of faith and a fashion statement at the same time. Crosses adorned with sparkling gems adorned the clothing of wealthy citizens in the growing cities of Europe, and even in the courtly world, the cross was a welcome accessory and fashion statement. The present cross is a typical piece of jewelry from the Rococo era and comes with beautiful trim. Crafted from fine gold and silver, the pendant presents table-cut garnets and natural blister pearls (cf. "Learn more") in closed mirror settings. It shows ornaments made of C-shaped silver bars, which are quite typical for goldsmith's work from the middle of the 18th century. The contrast between the warm glowing color of the garnets and the cool tone of the silver is particularly beautiful, as it gives the piece a nice vibrancy. The cross is attached to a magnificent agraffe and was probably worn around the neck on a velvet ribbon or long silk cord. We find an example of this style of wearing in a charming pastel from the hand of Jean-Étienne Liotard, which shows his niece as a "beautiful reader." She wears a cross on a long silk cord on her décolleté in the print, which was created in 1746. In Hanns-Ulrich Haedeke: Jewellery from three millennia. Sammlung Hanns-Ulrich Haedeke, Cologne 2000, p. 262, there is a comparable cross that gathers the same materials to a corresponding design. Just like the design, materials and workmanship, the comparison shows that the piece at hand was made in the middle of the 18th century. Rarely have pieces of jewellery from this era survived the long years as well as the present piece, which can still be worn without restriction after about 270 years.

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Before the Japanese entrepreneur Mikimoto invented pearl cultivation and thus revolutionized the pearl market in the 1920s, genuine pearls were so rare and so precious that they reached prices close to those of diamond roses of the same size. It is therefore not surprising that particularly beautiful pearl jewellery can be found in the great princely treasuries, such as the jewellery of the Queen of Saxony or the Queen of Bavaria. The suppliers of the pearls were not only sea shells and oysters but mainly shells from the rivers and streams of Central Europe. The pearl necklace in the treasury of the Munich Residenz is also made of Bavarian river pearls. For jewellery other than pearl necklaces, for which full-round pearls are needed, not only round pearls were used that had grown in the muscle tissue of the mussels but also those that were firmly attached to the mussel shell. Such pearls are formed when predators of the mussel try to penetrate the mussel shell to get to the mussel meat. The defensible mussel closes the pierced shell with nacre, which also creates pearls, which, however, are firmly attached to the mussel shell. These resulting pearls are called blister pearls and we regularly find them in antique jewellery. Always set closed on the back, the precious shimmering blister pearls are detached from the shell and then set in gold or silver. A procedure that was already known to the ancient Egyptians.

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Size & Details

Morning Star Of The Dark Night

€ 1,390.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Our Promise

We want you to be 100% satisfied! For that reason, we examine, describe and photograph all of our jewellery with the utmost care.

You can rely on our years of experience in the trade and our expertise as a professional art historians for reviews of the antique jewellery. As a member of various trade organisations and the British Society of Jewellery Historians, we remain committed to the highest possible degree of accuracy. In our descriptions, we always also indicate any signs of age and defects and never hide them in our photos – this saves you from any unpleasant surprises when your package arrives.

Should you for some reason not be satisfied, please don’t hesitate to contact us so that we can find a solution together. In any case, you can return any article within one month and we will refund the full purchase price.

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Morning Star Of The Dark Night

Pendants

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