Gifts of Grandeur: The True Lovers Knot Enamel and Diamond Locket, 1670

Locket
Enamel, Gold, Diamonds
1670
Possibly Spanish
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This magnificent locket of gold, enamel and table-cut diamonds from the late Seventeenth Century represents several different symbols of love. First, the diamonds represent eternity. Secondly, the front of the locket is adorned with a “True Lovers Knot” showing how two lovers entwine forever. The locket is also decorated with an “S” which has been struck-through with a diagonal bar—a symbol of being a “slave to love” or “esclavos.”


The locket’s reverse is marked with a floral pattern in the enamel which matches the many gold and enamel drops. The original owner of this locket donated it to Treasury of the Cathedral of the Virgin of the Pillar, Zaragoza from whom it was purchased by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1870.