RENAISSANCE NECK-PENDANTS
The necklaces, collars, or neck-chains which have just been spoken of as
noticeable features in Renaissance decoration served the purpose of
suspending a species of ornament even more peculiarly characteristic of
the period--the pendant. This was hung either to the necklet, or to the
neck-chain that fell upon the breast. Among all classes of Renaissance
jewellery, and indeed of the jewellery of all time, this neck-pendant
certainly deserves the first place, not only on account of the
predominating part it played among the other ornaments of the period,
but also on account of the great number of examples we possess of it,
and the variety of forms which it exhibits.
Throughout the Middle Ages almost every pendant worn at the neck
(_pent-à-col_) bore a religious signification, but towards the close of
the fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century the pendant
seems to have lost much of its religious character, and became mainly an
object of decoration. That even in the sixteenth century it did not
entirely serve a decorative purpose is shown by a number of portraits
dating from the first half of the century, where the termination of the
neck-chain is hidden beneath a square-cut bodice. What the object was
which was thus concealed is uncertain. It was very possibly a reliquary,
or perhaps a cross; for crosses form a very large proportion of
Renaissance pendants existing at the present day.
Apart from crosses, the majority of Renaissance pendants represent a
figured subject of some description, while compositions entirely of
precious stones appear to be less common--at least in the second half of
the sixteenth century, to which the greater number of these jewels
belong. Holbein's designs for pendants, on the other hand, were
composed, it may be remembered, mainly of precious stones. From this we
may infer that jewels having as a central ornament a single precious
stone, or a gem surrounded by stones, and a regular contour, generally
antedate those with figured compositions within uneven or broken
borders. This of course applies to jewels which exhibit distinctly a
back and front, and not to those formed of a single figure in the round,
which are often difficult to date, though extant examples belong mostly
to the latter half of the century.
It is to be noticed that the majority of pendants are suspended by two,
or sometimes three, richly jewelled and enamelled chains, connected
above by a cartouche similarly enriched. While sixteenth-century
pendants display on their front the art of the goldsmith-enameller in
its full perfection, the reverse likewise exhibits artistic work in
engraving as well as enamelling. It is likewise worthy of remark that
Renaissance pendants are almost invariably enriched with pendent pearls.
Of the immense number of subjects represented on these jewels we have
already spoken in the introduction to the jewellery of the period. For
pendants formed of single figures executed in the round, the whole of
ancient or mediæval imagery--with its figures of Pan or of wood-nymphs,
centaurs, tritons, or mermen; nereids, mermaids or sirens; hippocamps,
unicorns, dragons, and other creatures, real as well as fabulous, of the
earth, air, or sea--was revived, or else transformed to suit the fancy
of the Renaissance jeweller. The formation of many of these was
frequently suggested by a monster pearl, unsuitable for ordinary
jewellery on account of its baroque or misshapen form, introduced in a
wonderfully skilful manner into the body or breast of a figure, which
was completed in enamelled goldwork. In such adaptations the German
jewellers, who seem to have revelled in technical difficulties,
displayed extraordinary ingenuity.
Among groups of several figures employed as subjects for representation,
generally within a frame of ornamental design, scenes from ancient
mythology predominate, the Judgment of Paris being a very favourite
theme. But Christian allegories are not excluded: besides the frequent
representation of Charity with her two children or her symbol the
pelican, we find Faith, Hope, and Fortitude; St. George and the Dragon
or St. Michael are also frequently met with; while amongst scriptural
subjects of the Old and New Testaments or the Apocrypha, the
Annunciation is perhaps the most popular.
[Illustration: _PLATE XXXI_ GERMAN AND FRENCH RENAISSANCE PENDANTS]
The majority of the pendants of this class show a rich and uneven
outline broken by tendrils often enriched with small dots of enamel, by
projecting wings of birds or amorini, by strapwork and other ornament.
Occasionally a "Charity" or an "Annunciation" is placed in an
architectural niche, but the architectural device is not infrequently
limited to a horizontal beam formed of a row of table-cut stones and two
obelisks of the same construction forming the ends to the right and left
(Pl. XXXIII, 1). It is only in the smaller examples of pendants that we
find the design lying flat on a plane. Generally the jewel is fashioned
in relief by means of two, three, or even four superimposed planes
formed of open-work plates arranged in such a manner that the lower
parts are seen through openings in the upper. These are fastened
together by rivets sometimes three-eighths of an inch long, and the
upper field of the jewel, on which are groups of enamelled figures, is
set with stones in very large pyramidal collets, so that the whole
composition is increased to a considerable height. Collections contain
frequent examples of this class of pendant (Pl. XXXII). One of the most
elaborate, of Augsburg work dating from the end of the sixteenth
century, is in the Adolphe Rothschild Bequest in the Louvre. In the
centre is an enamelled group representing the Annunciation, within an
architectural framework set with diamonds, rubies, and pendent pearls.
The jewel, which is suspended by triple chains from an enamelled
cartouche, measures in its total length 5¼ inches. It was formerly in
the Debruge-Duménil Collection. Similarly large open-work pendants,
enriched with enamels, precious stones, and pendent pearls, are shown
attached by a ribbon to the left breast in three portraits dated 1609,
representing the Princesses Elizabeth, Hedwig, and Dorothea of
Brunswick, Nos. 458, 460, and 461 in the Hampton Court Gallery.
Of pendants containing groups of small enamelled figures there seems to
have been an enormous production in Southern Germany towards the close
of the sixteenth century, particularly in the workshops of Munich and
Augsburg. These pieces, which are very charming, are greatly sought
after by collectors, and are among the most highly prized of all objects
of virtu at the present day. Their workmanship is extraordinarily
elaborate; though not a few of them, it must be confessed, are
overloaded with detail, and somewhat unsatisfactory in composition.
With the revival of the glyptic art, cameos begin to play a prominent
part in jewellery. A considerable number of cameos in the great gem
collections, set in exquisite jewelled and enamelled mounts, are
provided with loops for use as pendants.[160] Numerous gems, splendidly
mounted as pendants, are to be found in the Bibliothèque Nationale at
Paris (Pl. XXXI, 6); and in the British Museum are a few fine examples
from the Carlisle Collection. Of extant pendants having as a
centre-piece a figured subject, either cut in cameo or of repoussé work
enamelled, the majority show uneven contours, generally of broken
strapwork, after the manner of the German ornamentists, though not a few
of those of oval shape have frames with smooth outlines. Many, on the
other hand, follow the cartouche design in form of shields with upturned
edges. These figure chiefly in the designs of the French _maîtres
ornemanistes_, Androuet Ducerceau and Woeiriot. The doubling of the
frame characteristic of the French cartouches, and the broken contours
of the German pendants, which allow of a variety of intertwinings and
traversings, offer a favourite field for the display of the jeweller's
art in the application of polychrome enamels.
[160] Davenport, _Cameos_, 1900.
[Illustration: _PLATE XXXII_ ENAMELLED GOLD PENDANTS SET
WITH PEARLS AND PRECIOUS STONES
GERMAN, ABOUT 1600
(THE PROPERTY OF LADY ROTHSCHILD)]
The "nef," or model of a ship, was of frequent use as an article of
table plate. Pendent jewels likewise take the form of a small ship
completely equipped,[161] suspended by chains, and hung with pearls.
In this style of jewel, which is perhaps of Venetian origin, the
crescent-shaped caravel or carvel, open and without a deck, but built up
high at the prow and stern, with forecastle and cabin, and large ship's
lantern, is often adhered to; but the design is not infrequently
somewhat conventional. Many of the best-known collections contain
examples of these "nef" or "navette" pendants. Their probable Adriatic
origin is evinced by the several specimens exhibited, together with
jewels from the Greek Islands, in the Franks Bequest in the British
Museum. The Victoria and Albert Museum contains a choice example from
the Spitzer Collection. It carries three masts, five sails, a lantern,
and a high poop and stern. The rigging is of twisted gold wire, and
the hull covered with an imbricated pattern in translucent blue, red,
and green, and opaque white enamels. A variety to this form is presented
by a remarkable piece in the museum at Vienna. It represents a barque
manned by two rowers; while at the prow and stern are mandoline players
who entertain two passengers seated beneath the framework awning such as
was in use on the gondolas of the time. The whole is enriched with
polychrome enamels. The figures are in full relief, and the boat, hung
by three chains, is further set with diamonds and rubies. We may
estimate the extraordinary value attached to such objects at the present
day by the fact that a jewel very similar to this last was sold at
Messrs. Christie's Rooms in the autumn of 1903 for no less a sum than
£6,500. The hull of this jewel is identical with that at Vienna, but
figures of Antony and Cleopatra, finely executed, though somewhat out
of proportion to the rest, here take the place of the couple beneath
the awning; while instead of being hung by chains (as is suitable to
this form of pendant) the jewel is backed by a composition of
scroll- and strap-work, characteristic of German and Flemish work
of the second half of the sixteenth century. A comparison with
contemporary designs clearly associates these two objects with the
well-known set of engravings for pendent jewels published by Hans
Collaert at Antwerp in 1581 (Pl. XXXIII). Another version of this jewel
is in the Bavarian National Museum, Munich. The figures are the same as
on the Vienna jewel, but the vessel is in the form of a fish.
[161] Cf. "Une petite nef d'or, estoffée de tout son appareil"
(Invent. of Mary, dau. of Charles the Bold of Burgundy, and wife of
Maximilian I. Lille: _Archives du Nord_, VIII, p. 171.)
Just as the great gem cabinets preserve pendants whose jewel-work is
confined to richly decorated frames, so there exist a considerable
number of mounted medals, which must be looked for in collections of
coins and medals, among which they are classed on account of the
presumed preponderating importance of their centre-pieces. These pendent
gold medals (_Gnadenmedaillen_), with beautiful jewelled and enamelled
mounts, occasionally hung with pearls and suspended by chains from
ornate cartouches, were much in favour in Germany in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, and were given by noble personages, whose
portraits were figured on them, as presents and as marks of special
distinction. Many examples, as is to be expected, are to be found in the
coin cabinets of Munich and Berlin; while others are preserved in the
more important public and private collections of jewellery.
These medallions, as was natural, were frequently made in duplicate, and
the Waddesdon Bequest, and the Salting and Pierpont Morgan collections
each contain a jewel, dated 1612, of Maximilian, Archduke of Austria
(1558-1620), in an open-worked border of enamelled scrolls interrupted
by four shields of arms, and suspended by three chains, united above by
an oval escutcheon with the arms of Austria on one side and the cross of
the Teutonic order on the other. The Victoria and Albert Museum has an
enamel-mounted medal of Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria (1584-1666), a
facsimile of which, hung with a single instead of trilobed pearl, is in
the Munich cabinet.
Many of the motives connected with pendants denote associations which
appear inexplicable, until it is understood that no small number of
them, like the pendent medals, were gifts from princes, the so-called
"faveurs" granted in recognition of services rendered. Among the
princely gifts we must class that large group of pendants which consist
only of one letter or a monogram in an ornamental frame or in open-work,
sometimes composed entirely of precious stones. Of these the Victoria
and Albert Museum possesses a fine early example in form of a square
tablet of gold set with pearls, bearing on one side two enamelled
shields of arms, and on the other the initials DA, in a frame formed of
bracket-shaped terminal figures and human masks. It is of German work
of about the year 1530 (Pl. XXXI, 3). Distinct from these princely
monograms are those employed for religious purposes, particularly the
monograms of Christ and the Virgin.
[Illustration: _PLATE XXXIII_ PENDENT JEWELS BY HANS COLLAERT, ETC.]
Probably the finest example of the numerous pendants in the form of a
single figure, particularly of those whose formation is suggested by a
large baroque pearl, is the triton or merman jewel in the possession of
Lord Clanricarde. The figure, whose body is made of a single pearl, with
head and arms of white enamel and tail of brilliant yellow, green, and
blue, wields a jaw-bone in the right hand, and an enamelled satyr's mask
as a shield in the left. This magnificent Italian jewel was brought from
India by Lord Canning. Pendants of somewhat similar character, often
representing a mermaid holding a comb in one hand and a mirror in the
other, are to be found in the Vienna, Windsor, Waddesdon, and other
collections. They are almost invariably of German workmanship. Amongst
many other jewels of similar formation the most important is a pendant
in the form of a dragon in the Galerie d'Apollon of the Louvre. The
modelling and general form of this jewel is very fine, and its
enamel-work, chiefly of white and light blue, in the design of circles
and chevrons, especially on the wings, is most admirable. It is Spanish
work of the highest quality, and was bequeathed by Baron Davillier, who
procured it in Spain (_Frontispiece_).
Of other animal forms are those of a lion, a dromedary, a dog (termed a
talbot) (Pl. XXXIV, 2), and a fish; birds include, besides a dove (the
symbol of the Holy Ghost), eagles, cocks, parrots, and pelicans. Fine
examples of the two latter are at South Kensington from the Treasury at
Saragossa: one is mounted with a large hyacinth in front[162]
(Pl. XXXIV, 1), the other is represented plucking at a blood-red
carbuncle set in her breast.
[162] Cf. "A juell of golde, wherein is a parret hanging"
(New Year's gifts to Queen Elizabeth, 1578-9).
Among miscellaneous pendants worn in Renaissance times attached to the
neck-chain mention must be made of whistles. These (like the "bo'sons
pipe" of to-day) were formed, as has been shown (p. 190), of a pipe or
tube, sometimes in the form of a pistol, through which the air is
carried into a hole in a ball, thus producing the sound. Whistles of
this kind were designed by Dürer and Brosamer, and they are shown
suspended at the neck in the engraved portraits of William, Duke of
Juliers, and of John of Leyden by Aldegrever, in the portrait of a man
by Lucis Cranach the elder (1472-1553) in the Louvre, and in portraits
of the Margrave Philibert of Baden (1549) by Hans Schöpfer the elder at
Munich and Nuremberg. Silver whistles of somewhat similar construction,
ornamented with a mermaid or siren, or with a lion or sea-horse, were
frequently worn also as charms in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. They are usually hung with little bells, possibly for the
purpose of averting the evil eye--the "mal'occhio" or "jettatura" it is
termed in Italy. Examples are preserved in the Cluny, Nuremberg, and
South Kensington museums.
In Aldegrever's design for a whistle, of the year 1539, the lower part
is formed of a case containing small articles for toilet purposes. Such
articles, in the shape of toothpicks and ear-picks, often richly gemmed
and enamelled, were very commonly worn hanging from a fine gold chain or
thread about the neck. Elaborate toothpicks are occasionally seen in
pictures, as in the Venetian portrait of a young man in the National
Gallery of Ireland. Their owners are sometimes shown affectionately
toying with them. Judging by the frequency with which they are met with
in inventories, they must have been extremely popular. A few quotations
may be given. Thus: Henry VIII (1530). "Two gold toothpicks with H and
E--A gold toothpick and an ear-pick, with a chain; and two other
toothpicks, one with a ruby and a pearl, and the other with a ruby and a
diamond--Two gold whistles."[163] Queen Elizabeth amongst her New Year's
gifts received the following:--1573-4: "Six smale tothe-picks of golde.
Geven by Mrs. Snowe, one of them lost by her Majestie." 1574-5: "An
eare-picke of golde enamuled, garnished with sparcks of rubyes, blue
saphirs, and seede perle." 1576-7: "A tothe and eare-picke of golde,
being a dolphin enamuled, with a perle pendaunte, 16 small rubyes being
but sparcks, and 5 sparcks of dyamonds."[164] Most of the important
collections of Cinquecento jewellery contain specimens of these
magnificent toothpicks. The form is often that of a mermaid or merman.
The body is constructed of a baroque pearl; the tail terminates in a
point. Designs for a couple of jewels of this kind were published by
Erasmus Hornick of Nuremberg in 1562. In the Cluny Museum (Wasset
Bequest) is a silver-gilt pendant, an ear- and toothpick combined,
one end being an ear-, the other a toothpick. It is ornamented in the
centre with clasped hands and hung with a pearl, and is German work of
the sixteenth century.
[163] Henry VIII, _Letters and Papers_, IV, No. 6789.
[164] Nichols, _Progresses of Q. Elizabeth_, I, pp. 380, 412; II, p. 52.
In addition to the museums already mentioned (namely, the Victoria and
Albert Museum and the Vienna Museum, the Rothschild and Davillier
Bequests in the Louvre, and the coin or gem collections of London,
Paris, Berlin, and Munich), numbers of pendants, in immense variety of
form, are to be found in all the well-known collections. The Waddesdon
Bequest in the British Museum contains, perhaps, the largest series;
while the Wallace Collection, the Prussian Crown Treasury at Berlin, the
Bavarian Crown Treasury at Munich, and the Green Vaults at Dresden, all
possess a great number of examples.
* * *
Several English pendants of the Renaissance claim attention for their
rare beauty and historical importance. Of the pendants of the time of
Henry VIII we obtain a tolerably accurate idea from contemporary
portraits, and from Holbein's inimitable series of drawings. The
earliest existing example, which, so far as can be ascertained, dates
from the Holbein period, is known as the Penruddock Jewel. It is
believed to have been presented in 1544 by Queen Catherine Parr to Sir
George Penruddock of Compton Chamberlayne, and Anne his wife. It is
triangular in shape, and set with a large cabochon sapphire surrounded
by rubies and diamonds in open-work enamel setting. This remarkable
jewel is shown on a portrait of Sir George Penruddock by Lucas de Heere
in possession of its owner, Mr. Charles Penruddock, at Compton
Chamberlayne, Wiltshire.
[Illustration: The Penruddock Jewel.]
The majority of English sixteenth-century pendants extant date from the
Elizabethan period, and are almost all more or less associated with the
Virgin Queen. The ingenuity displayed in devising curious forms for
these ornaments can best be judged from the lists of the Queen's own
jewels. A few of these may be mentioned: "A juell of golde, being a
catt, and myce playing with her.--One greene frog, the back of
emeraldes, smale and greate, and a pendaunte emeralde, and a smale
cheyne of golde to hang by.--A juell of golde, being an anker." Another
"being a dolfyn," another "two snakes wounde together," others take the
form of a horse-shoe, a swan, and a rainbow.
The "nef" jewel, of which we have spoken, was also a favourite one. In
the Queen's inventory are a number of entries of this class of pendant,
and among them: "A jeuel of golde, being a shippe, sett with a table
dyamonde, of fyve sparcks of dyamondes, and a smale perle pendaunte.--A
juell, being a ship of mother-of-perle, garneshed with small rubys,
and 3 small diamonds." One of the chief treasures among the Hunsdon
heirlooms at Berkeley Castle is a pendant of this form, a present to
Elizabeth from Sir Francis Drake, and given by her to Lord Hunsdon. It
is supposed to represent the famous _Golden Hind_, the ship in which
Drake sailed round the world. The hull, which is of ebony, is set with a
table diamond; the masts and rigging of gold are enriched with blue,
white, green, and black opaque enamels, and set with seed pearls. In the
ship is a seated figure of Victory blowing a horn, and behind is a
cherub crowning her with a wreath. The small boat suspended below is
enamelled blue (Pl. XXXV, 2).
A jewel also associated with Sir Francis Drake, and perhaps the most
important of all Elizabethan pendants, is preserved, with other relics
of the great navigator, at Nutwell Court, Devon. It is set in front with
a fine Renaissance cameo in Oriental sardonyx, representing two heads--a
negro in the upper and dark layer, and a classical head in the light
layer of the stone. Behind is a miniature by Hilliard of Elizabeth,
dated 1575. The border, of most admirable work, is richly enamelled in
red, yellow, blue, and green, interspersed with diamonds and rubies.
Beneath is a cluster pendant of pearls, to which is attached a very fine
drop pearl (Pl. XXXIV, 4). This magnificent jewel was presented to Sir
Francis Drake by Queen Elizabeth in 1579, and in his portrait by
Zucchero (now belonging, together with the jewel, to his descendant Sir
F. Fuller-Eliott-Drake) he is represented wearing it suspended from the
neck by a red and gold cord, over a silk scarf, also a present from the
Queen.
The cluster of pearls, as on the Drake Jewel, was a favourite form of
ornament for Renaissance pendants. In the National Portrait Gallery is
a portrait of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk (father of Lady Jane Grey),
wearing a George of the Order of the Garter, below which is hung a pearl
cluster and a large pear-shaped pearl attached. A similar pendant, like
a bunch of grapes, serves to enrich another fine jewel of this time--the
Barbor Jewel in the Victoria and Albert Museum. In the centre of this
jewel is a beautifully cut cameo portrait in sardonyx of Queen Elizabeth
in a frame of translucent blue and green on opaque white enamel, set
alternately with rubies and table diamonds. According to a family
tradition, Mr. William Barbor, who had been condemned to be burned at
the stake in Smithfield for his religion, had this jewel made to
commemorate his deliverance through the death of Queen Mary and the
accession of Elizabeth (Pl. XXXV, 4).
The Museum at South Kensington exhibits another pendant of the same
period, the property of Miss Wild. It is of gold, of open scrollwork,
enamelled, and set with rubies and diamonds, and with pearl drops. It
has in the centre a turquoise cameo of Queen Elizabeth. The sheen of the
pearls with the rich red of the foiled rubies and the dark lustre of the
diamonds in their old irregular setting, combine with the lightness and
delicacy of the goldwork touched with coloured enamel to render this
little pendant one of the most attractive objects of its kind in
existence. In addition to its artistic beauty, the jewel is of interest
from the tradition that it was given as a christening present by Queen
Elizabeth to its first owner, by whose descendants it has been preserved
to the present day.
[Illustration: _PLATE XXXIV_ RENAISSANCE PENDANTS, ETC., OF GOLD,
ENAMELLED AND JEWELLED
SPANISH (1-2) AND ENGLISH (3-6)]
Amongst other examples in that important group of jewels which were
apparently intended either as special rewards to naval officers or
simply as complimentary presents from the Queen to Court favourites, the
finest are the Phoenix Jewel in the British Museum, a jewel belonging
to Mr. Pierpont Morgan, and one in the Poldi-Pezzoli Museum, Milan.
The Phoenix Jewel, bequeathed to the British Museum by Sir Hans Sloane
in 1753, has as a central ornament a gold bust of Queen Elizabeth cut
from a gold medal known as the Phoenix Badge of the year 1574, bearing
on the reverse the device of a phoenix amid flames. It is enclosed in
an enamelled wreath set on both sides with red, white, and variegated
roses symbolising the union of the Houses of York and Lancaster. The
roses, of translucent red and opaque white enamel, and the leaves, of
translucent green on engraved ground, are attached to stalks covered
with lighter green opaque enamel (Pl. XXXV, 1). The workmanship of this
jewel is extremely fine, and on a level in point of excellence with the
Eliott-Drake pendant and with Mr. Pierpont Morgan's Armada Jewel.
Of the last-named--a splendid production of an English goldsmith of the
Elizabethan period--it is impossible to speak with adequate praise. Like
the Phoenix Jewel, it is modelled upon a contemporary medal, though in
an entirely different style. Upon the front is a profile bust of Queen
Elizabeth from the Personal or Garter badge of 1582, upon an enamelled
ground of aventurine blue, inscribed with the royal title. The opposite
side forms a locket containing a miniature of Elizabeth by Hilliard
dated 1580, and covered with a lid enamelled with translucent
colours--on the outside with the Ark and the motto SAEVAS TRANQUILLA PER
UNDAS (as on the "Naval Award Medal" of 1588), and on the inside with
the Tudor rose and a laudatory Latin motto--the same as appears round
the reverse of the Phoenix Badge of 1574, which refers to Elizabeth
with a regret "that virtue endued with so much beauty should not
uninjured enjoy perpetual life." The jewel is bordered by strapwork _à
jour_ of opaque blue and white enamel set with table diamonds and
rubies. This exquisite object, which is in the highest possible state of
preservation, and retains its fine enamel entirely uninjured, was sold
at Messrs. Christie's in July, 1902, for the large sum of £5,250
(Pl. XXXIV, 5, 6).
The third jewel of this class, also undoubtedly English, is in the
Poldi-Pezzoli Museum at Milan. It has in the centre a mother-of-pearl
medallion with the Ark carved in low relief, of the same design as
on the Morgan Jewel and the 1588 medal, surrounded by the like
inscription--SAEVAS TRANQVILA PER VNDAS--in gold on white enamel, and
encircled by a band of table-cut rubies. The edge is enamelled with
translucent red and green, and opaque white enamel (Pl. XXXV, 3). The
Ark floating tranquilly amid violent waves is emblematic of the fortunes
of England, or possibly of Elizabeth, who, according to the legend PER
TOT DISCRIMINA RERUM which appears on the back of the jewel, had sailed
triumphantly through many dangers. No account of this important object
has previously been published, nor has its nationality up to the present
been noticed, or at any rate recorded.
The front opens on a hinge, and shows that the pendant was intended as a
miniature case--though the miniature is missing. In the times of
Elizabeth and her successor miniature cases were among the most
important of pendent jewels. Quite a number have survived, chiefly on
account of the miniatures they enclose. Contemporary portraits show
the manner in which they were worn. In the catalogue of Charles I's
collections a miniature of Queen Elizabeth is thus described: "Queen
Elizabeth ... very richly adorned with gold and pearls, and a
picture-box hanging at her right breast." Such "picture boxes," with
backs elaborately enamelled by the champlevé method, leaving only thin
outlines of gold of scroll design, and hinged fronts of open-work,
enamelled and set with precious stones, are among the presents which
appear to have been frequently conferred as marks of recognition on
favourite courtiers or subjects. It is impossible to enumerate all the
various examples in public and private collections. The Victoria and
Albert Museum possesses one of the best, and a beautiful specimen is
preserved at Windsor Castle[165] (Pl. XXVIII, 5). A description of a
third jewel of the kind, the "Lyte Jewel," will be given subsequently
(p. 303).
[165] See _Connoisseur_, V, p. 80. _The gems and jewels at
Windsor Castle_, by H. Clifford Smith.
[Illustration: _PLATE XXXV_ ELIZABETHAN JEWELLERY]
Besides the enamelled and jewelled pendants there are various medals
(some of which have been alluded to) suspended by a ring or chain and
worn as badges by those who were personally attached to the Queen; and
to the time of James I belong numerous references to medals of gold with
the "King's Majestie's phisnomy" on them, mostly the work of his
goldsmith, John Williams, and presented to various foreigners in
official positions.
Space does not permit of detailed description of the wonderful Lennox or
Darnley Jewel at Windsor Castle, purchased by Queen Victoria at the sale
of Horace Walpole's collection at Strawberry Hill in 1842 (Pl. XXVIII,
4). The jewel has been fully described by Mr. Tytler and Mr. Albert
Way.[166]
[166] Way(A.), _Cat. of antiquities and historical Scottish
relics, Edinburgh, 1859_, p. 163. See also _Connoisseur, loc. cit._
It has been impossible here to convey an adequate idea of all the
various specimens of sixteenth-century pendants that exist at the
present day. Attention has been drawn to a few of the most striking
examples which stand out above the rest, either by reason of the beauty
of their design or the superlative excellence of their workmanship, or
by reason of their unique historical interest. While indicating the
great public collections where these things are preserved, it must be
left to amateurs to discover and appreciate for themselves, as they are
bound to do, what, owing to exigencies of space, we are precluded from
referring to in detail.