Unusual Artifacts: The Double-Eye Agate Pendant, Early Seventeenth Century

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Dating to the early Seventeenth Century, this German pendant of gold, enamel and double-eye agate was first recorded in the Royal Collection in 1872.

On the obverse, an oval cabochon double-eye agate is set in a gold mount with an enamel scrollwork of deep and light blue with white spots.  The double-eye agate set in this frame is not original to the piece.  A later owner of the pendant replaced the original stone which was likely a cameo.  

The pendant was found in a burial site, having been buried at some point after it's creation in the early Seventeenth Century.  It's possible that the original stone or cameo was damaged while being buried or that the original centerpiece was replaced with the double-eye agate as it was intended as an amulet to ward off "The Evil Eye" an to protect against various ailments.  Another later addition to the piece was the small loop at the bottom which would allow the suspension of another drop or pendant or to enable the piece to be sewn into a garment.

The reverse of the piece is likely unchanged from its original pre-burial form.  The back shows a central leaf-shape surrounded by scrolls in opaque dark-blue, light-blue and translucent green and red enamel.  These enamels are very weathered and pitted.  Here, the white spots on the surface aren't intentional decoration, but rather deposits of calcium carbonate which resulted from having been buried in the earth.

Despite its age and having been buried, the piece is in remarkably good condition.  The foil behind the enamels is still intact and the color of the remaining enamel is quite bright and lustrous.  

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Martha Edlin Beaded Jewelry Case, 1673

Martha Edlin's Jewelry Case, 1673
The Victoria and Albert Museum

Decorated with beadwork--a fashionable embroidery technique in the Seventeenth Century--in which tiny glass beads were threaded and sewn into a pattern, this jewelry case features a padded central panel which lifts open to reveal a compartment for organizing jewels. It is lined with pink taffeta. On the lid, surrounded by an oval wreath formed by silk-wrapped leaves of parchment, is a cockatrice in a tree, with flowers around, worked in glass beads. Outside the wreath, flowers and a leopard are worked in silks in tent and rococo stitches. On the frame surrounding the lid are birds and flowering plants worked in beads. The corners of the frame rest on four round, hand-turned wooden feet. The underside is wholly lined with marbled paper and the edges and seams are covered with silver braid.

Such a fancy case, especially one with such high-quality glass beads and other materials, could only have been made for a very wealthy household. Furthermore, a cabinet-maker would have been employed to make the structure of the case itself if the estate did not already have a man who was proficient in woodworking.

This case once belonged to one Martha Edlin. Her name and the year (1673) have been embroidered on the case. Clearly, Miss Edlin worked the case herself. Given the value of the case itself, we can see that Martha and her successors handled it with extreme care. For this reason, it remains in near pristine condition over three hundred years later.

Martha Edlin (1660-1725) is a name which has become very familiar to me over the past two years as I’ve studied, in detail collection of the V&A. Several items from Martha’s home are now housed in the museum. Martha worked a series of embroideries during her childhood, including this jewelry case, which were cherished by her descendants and passed through the female line of her family for over three hundred years.

Beyond her obvious skill with embroidery, sadly, we know very little about her life, except for the fact that she was married to a man called Richard Richmond. After Richmond’s death, Martha appears to have been a prosperous widow with a handsome home in Pinner in Greater London. She left the bulk of her estate to her daughters and grandchildren.

Among the other treasures created by Martha Edlin, the V&A owns an embroidered sampler in colored silks which Martha created at the age of eight, and a more complicated piece in white-work and cutwork which she crafted at nine. We have looked at those previously. By 1671, Martha’s eleventh year, she had embroidered the panels of an elaborate casket, and two years later. At thirteen, this beadwork jewelry case.

Curiously, for many years, this case became separated from the other Martha Edlin embroideries (which stayed in her family's possession until their acquisition by the Museum). In the Nineteenth Century, the case was purchased at an auction by an unknown buyer. Then, in 1927, the case was again sent to auction where it was purchased by by Sir Frederick Richmond—an ancestor of Martha’s who donated it to the V&A so that it might, once again, join the other beautiful work created by Miss Edlin. 

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Frog Scent Case, 17th C.

Silver Gilt Scent Case
German, Seventeenth Century
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This silver-gilt scent case was made in Germany in the Seventeenth Century. As you can see, it’s created in the shape of a frog on a leaf. Such a case would have been worn or carried on the person to keep a pleasant aroma at hand at all times during periods when cities and towns didn’t smell so very good.  This one, for example, would have been worn from a chain or ribbon, suspended around the neck, or hung from a matching pin or brooch.  A sponge, fabric or porous material soaked with scent or pot pourri would have been contained in the case and the aroma would have escape through the pierced backing.

The owner and maker of this handsome figure are unknown, but it’s a lovely example of German silver work of the early 1600s. 

Painting of the Day: War and Victory: Model for a Title Page, 1645-1635

War and Victory
Rubens, 1634-1635
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This handsome work is a model for a title page  for a book which was published in Antwerp by Jan Cnobbaert in 1635.  The painting is from the masterful hand of Rubens (1577-1640).

This piece is one of only three known oil sketches in grisaille (monochrome painting) that Rubens designed for use as title pages. Rubens' work represents the finest hallmarks of  the Italian High Renaissance.  He wedded these ideals, with which he became acquainted during an extended visit to Italy, with northern realism. 

The oil sketch depicts, on the right, a male allegorical figure who is carrying the trophies of war, and, on the left, a winged female allegorical figure.  She offers upward a laurel wreath to a rather busy eagle who holds serpent in its talons.  At the top two Genii crown a coat of arms adorned with wreaths.  A blank cartouche anchors the bottom of the composition.

Unfolding Pictures: The Toilette Fan, 1670-80

Fan
French, 1670-80
The Victoria & Albert Museum

“The toilette,” the process of getting dressed, was a fashionable subject for a fan leaf in the late Seventeenth Century. Such scenes were often depicted on elegant fans. Here’s an example of such a fan showing an attractive, elegant room which opens on one side with a view of a distant landscape behind. Therein, putti are preparing Cupid’s bath and making his bed. The vellum leaf, painted in watercolors, is based on paintings by Jan Brueghel the Elder.

The reverse is painted with three bunches of roses within a broad border which repeats the shape of the fan leaf. The border is punctuated with a design of flowers and formal leaf patterns.

The sticks and guards are of pierced and carved tortoiseshell and have been decorated with hand-painted squiggles. The fan was made between 1670 and 1680 in France. Some feel that it was meant to celebrate the “Appartement des Bains” at Versailles—the sumptuous bathroom of Louis XIV's mother, Anne of Austria. 

 

Mastery of Design: A Seventeenth-Century Diamond and Sapphire Necklace

This and all related images from The British Musuem

There's some debate about where this necklace was made.  It could have come from anywhere, but France, the Netherlands, and England have been speculated.  Nonetheless, it's a safe bet that it dates to the early Seventeenth Century.

The gold necklace is comprised of thirty-five square mounts of gold containing diamonds cut in the form of a truncated pyramid and central pendant of three diamonds and an octagonal sapphire.  The reverses of these links are enameled in black and white while the back of pendant is enameled with a tulip-pattern in red, white and black.

Print of the Day: Pulcinella, 1622

Pulliciniello (Pulcinella)
Jacques Callot, 1622
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Despite the rather queer spelling of the inscription, Pulliciniello (which can be forgiven since words foreign to Britain were usually spelled phonetically in the Seventeenth Century), we know this print depicts the Commedia dell’Arte character Pulcinella—the forebear of our Mr. Punch. 


The print, published in 1622, is based on an original drawing by Jacques Callot (1592-1635). 

Drawing of the Day: Five Grotesque Heads, 1646

Five Grotesque Heads
Wenceslaus Hollar
England, 1646
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection 
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Born in Prague, Bohemian etcher Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) spent much of his life in England. There, he attracted the attention of wealthy patrons and noblemen, including Thomas Howard 21st Earl of Arundel and the Royal Court. During the English Civil War, his income naturally suffered, but he created some of the most gripping records of the war.

This study by Hollar shows his penchant for the theatrical and grotesque. Created in 1646, the original drawing for the published etching depicts of five men. An older man who is clean-shaven is crowned with a wreath of oak leaves. Another man has his head tilted back and opens his mouth in a horrid yawn. A bald man is seen in the lower background. On the right, a laughing man is depicted and the composition is balanced by the profile of a man with a headband.

This sort of grotesquerie was quite in vogue in the early Seventeenth Century. Grotesque figures were the subjects of many a medium from porcelain to architecture. Hollar shows us his masterful hand and ability to show both motion and emotion while also satiating the taste for the horrible which was prevalent in arts of the era.

Drawing of the Day: The Corn Rose, 1680

Page from the Florilegium of Alexander Marshal
c. 1680
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

The delicate drawing, dating to 1680, is the work of Alexander Marshal (c. 1620-82). Marshal was part of a league of “gentlemen gardeners” living in London in the Seventeenth Century. These gents looked to the cultivation of rare and exotic plants to learn about the workings of the natural world. They reveled, especially, in those plants which had been imported from the Near East and America at the start of the Seventeenth Century.

Marshal spent thirty years compiling a “florilegium” (flower book) which, in the end, contained 154 folios recording interesting and rare plants growing in the English gardens of his friends. Curiously, Marshal didn’t consider himself an artist, but his talent is evident. His florilegium is the only English flower book from the Seventeenth Century that survives. He never intended the folios to be sold or published, but rather, produced the book for the enjoyment and education of his friends.

King George IV was presented with the florilegium by an unknown party in the 1820s.

This leaf from the book features watercolors of three plants including: the Red Poppy (or Corn Rose), the Cockle and a Jacob's Ladder. The flowers are identified on the reverse.

Reverse
Alexander Marshal, 1680
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Unusual Artifacts: The Duke of Urbino's Writing Desk, 1600

The Duke of Urbino's Writing Desk
Italy, 1600
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This walnut writing desk, dating to about 1600, bears the coat of arms of Francesco Maria II, Duke of Urbino (reigned 1574 - 1626) whose palace in Pesaro, Italy, on the Adriatic Coast contained various of workshops for artists and craftsmen ranging from watchmakers and silversmiths to painters and illuminators.

An impressive piece, it is decorated with an elaborate inlay of engraved bone which hints at the designs of German weaponry of 1590, but was most certainly made in the ducal workshops at Pesaro by one of the many German woodworkers whom the Duke had taken in.

The inside of the writing desk’s lid is decorated with two cartouches: one with the Duke's arms and the other left blank--presumably so that the Duke could gift it to another ducal family who could add their own arms. Writing boxes also served reading stands. In the early Seventeenth Century, the bible was one of the most-owned books, hence the overuse of religious motifs both inside and out alongside the grotesques which were so fashionable during that era.

Mastery of Design: The Forget-Me-Not Signet Ring, c, 1634

Signet Ring
Germany, 1634
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in Germany in 1634, this gold signet ring is surmounted by an octagonal bezel which is set with a panel of verre eglomisé (gilded glass) which depicts clasped hands holding three forget-me-nots between "AW" and "GH." Inscribed "ANNO/ 1634/ 12 IVNI," the ring is further decorated with masks on its shoulders. It is the earliest known mention of the union of root beer and the last remaining ABC network daytime serial. I kid.

Unusual Artifacts: An Italian Coral Amulet, c. 1600

Carved Coral Amulet
Italy, Seventeenth Century
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A carved coral amulet, this jewel was made in Italy around 1600 and was intended as a baby gift. Mounted in enameled gold filigree, the piece is carved with a bird meant to protect the child from harm. 

The amulet could have been suspended from a ribbon over the cradle or, perhaps, hung from a rattle.

Mastery of Design: The Double-Eye Agate Pendant, Early Seventeenth Century

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Dating to the early Seventeenth Century, this German pendant of gold, enamel and double-eye agate was first recorded in the Royal Collection in 1872.

On the obverse, an oval cabochon double-eye agate is set in a gold mount with an enamel scrollwork of deep and light blue with white spots.  The double-eye agate set in this frame is not original to the piece.  A later owner of the pendant replaced the original stone which was likely a cameo.  

The pendant was found in a burial site, having been buried at some point after it's creation in the early Seventeenth Century.  It's possible that the original stone or cameo was damaged while being buried or that the original centerpiece was replaced with the double-eye agate as it was intended as an amulet to ward off "The Evil Eye" an to protect against various ailments.  Another later addition to the piece was the small loop at the bottom which would allow the suspension of another drop or pendant or to enable the piece to be sewn into a garment.

The reverse of the piece is likely unchanged from its original pre-burial form.  The back shows a central leaf-shape surrounded by scrolls in opaque dark-blue, light-blue and translucent green and red enamel.  These enamels are very weathered and pitted.  Here, the white spots on the surface aren't intentional decoration, but rather deposits of calcium carbonate which resulted from having been buried in the earth.

Despite its age and having been buried, the piece is in remarkably good condition.  The foil behind the enamels is still intact and the color of the remaining enamel is quite bright and lustrous.  

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Gifts of Grandeur: The Hull Grundy Bodice Ornament, c. 1650

Click image to see larger picture.
Hull Grundy Bodice Ornament
Spain, Seventeenth Century
The British Museum

This bodice ornament of gold is set with table-cut emeralds and diamonds. The upper section of the piece features an openwork design in a bow form incorporating foliate tendrils and volutes. This is hinged to a section which works the initial “S” in pierced openwork.

The reverse of the jewel is enameled in pink and black on a ground of white in a floral pattern.

At one point, this piece was in the collection of Dame Joan Evans, but ended up in the catalogue of the Hull Grundys who presented this as part of a large gift to the British Museum. It’s believed that the ornament has significance to a Spanish religious confraternity.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Martha Edlin Beaded Jewelry Case, 1673

Martha Edlin's Jewelry Case, 1673
The Victoria and Albert Museum

Decorated with beadwork--a fashionable embroidery technique in the Seventeenth Century--in which tiny glass beads were threaded and sewn into a pattern, this jewelry case features a padded central panel which lifts open to reveal a compartment for organizing jewels. It is lined with pink taffeta. On the lid, surrounded by an oval wreath formed by silk-wrapped leaves of parchment, is a cockatrice in a tree, with flowers around, worked in glass beads. Outside the wreath, flowers and a leopard are worked in silks in tent and rococo stitches. On the frame surrounding the lid are birds and flowering plants worked in beads. The corners of the frame rest on four round, hand-turned wooden feet. The underside is wholly lined with marbled paper and the edges and seams are covered with silver braid.

Such a fancy case, especially one with such high-quality glass beads and other materials, could only have been made for a very wealthy household. Furthermore, a cabinet-maker would have been employed to make the structure of the case itself if the estate did not already have a man who was proficient in woodworking.

This case once belonged to one Martha Edlin. Her name and the year (1673) have been embroidered on the case. Clearly, Miss Edlin worked the case herself. Given the value of the case itself, we can see that Martha and her successors handled it with extreme care. For this reason, it remains in near pristine condition over three hundred years later.

Martha Edlin (1660-1725) is a name which has become very familiar to me over the past two years as I’ve studied, in detail collection of the V&A. Several items from Martha’s home are now housed in the museum. Martha worked a series of embroideries during her childhood, including this jewelry case, which were cherished by her descendants and passed through the female line of her family for over three hundred years.

Beyond her obvious skill with embroidery, sadly, we know very little about her life, except for the fact that she was married to a man called Richard Richmond. After Richmond’s death, Martha appears to have been a prosperous widow with a handsome home in Pinner in Greater London. She left the bulk of her estate to her daughters and grandchildren.

Among the other treasures created by Martha Edlin, the V&A owns an embroidered sampler in colored silks which Martha created at the age of eight, and a more complicated piece in white-work and cutwork which she crafted at nine. We have looked at those previously. By 1671, Martha’s eleventh year, she had embroidered the panels of an elaborate casket, and two years later. At thirteen, this beadwork jewelry case.

Curiously, for many years, this case became separated from the other Martha Edlin embroideries (which stayed in her family's possession until their acquisition by the Museum). In the Nineteenth Century, the case was purchased at an auction by an unknown buyer. Then, in 1927, the case was again sent to auction where it was purchased by by Sir Frederick Richmond—an ancestor of Martha’s who donated it to the V&A so that it might, once again, join the other beautiful work created by Miss Edlin. 

Unusual Artifacts: The Sheldon Tapestry Book Cover, 1615

Tapestry Book Cover
Sheldon Tapestry Works, 1615
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Books in general, until recently, were highly-valued objects which were treated with the utmost respect. Most upper class Seventeenth Century households would proudly display and protect their precious books, especially the family Bible. The expensive and intricate bindings of books were often protected with ornate covers made from a variety of materials.

This book cover dates to about 1615 and is constructed of a particularly expensive bit of tapestry. Tapestry, though more costly, would have worn better than the more common embroidery protective covers. The tapestry was professionally made of silk and metal thread and is adorned with biblical scenes.

Made in Warwickshire, England, by the Sheldon Tapestry Works the cover’s front shows a square cartouche depicting “Moses and the Burning Bush,” with the presence of God indicated by the word DEUS which appears in a cloud. A similar cartouche graces the back and shows Jonah emerging from the Whale. A golden star surrounded by a cloud adorns the spine.

Precious Time: The Apollo Clock, Late Seventeenth Century



Clock
French
Late Seventeenth
Century
The Royal Collection



King George IV—even as a young prince and Prince Regent—had an insatiable desire to collect objects, especially those related to King Louis XIV of France and Versailles. His lust took Charles Foster Kane-like proportions, so much so that he often never even displayed the items which he collected, but kept them in storage after spending thousands of pounds on them. Was he a Royal hoarder or just passionate? We’ll never know. However, looking at his huge assemblage of items, we do know that he had very good taste.

George IV had such a desire to collect that he was known, as one does, to send his staff members out shopping for him. A favorite was His Majesty’s pastry chef, François Benois who often shopped for the Prince Regent/King. On one of his shopping expeditions in Paris, Benois came upon this important tall-case clock which had belonged to King Louis XIV as evidenced by Louis’ emblem, the mask of Apollo, which is nestled into the elaborate cresting of the case. Of course, Benois knew he had to return with this rather enormous timepiece and took great pains in doing so.

Upon arrival at Carlton House, this late Seventeenth Century clock—which George IV was said to greatly admire—was packed away in storage, never being displayed. Unlike Louis XIV, George IV had space issues in his residences. Presumably Louis never ran out of room at Versailles, but Carlton House wasn’t without its limits. Why George IV didn’t use this clock at the Brighton Pavillion, we’ll never know. However, it’s long life in storage has preserved it quite well so that future generations will be able to enjoy its magnificence. 

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Precious Time: The Edward East Watch, 1635

Watch
Edward East
Britain, 1635
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Edward East (1602-1697) was apprenticed to the Goldsmiths' Company’s Richard Rogers in 1618, becoming a Freeman in 1627. By 1632 East was created one of the first Assistants of the Clockmakers' Company (founded 1631), serving as “Master of the Company” in 1645 and, again, in 1653. East’s work was so admired by the aristocrats of London Society that, in 1660 he was appointed as Chief Clockmaker to the king.

East’s watches, especially, were coveted and treasured. We can see why when we look at this handsome timepiece which East made in 1635. With its architectural overtones, exquisite movement and hour ring adorned with inlaid figures in black enamel, the watch is a true masterpiece. The watch case takes the form of a gourd made of rock crystal which has been mounted in gilt brass.

Depicting on the dial (inside the hour ring) is an engraved and inlaid scene of the birth of Christ. Above this, a nude representation of “Time” displays his typical attributes of a scythe and an hour glass.

We should note that Seventeenth Century watches—accessories only available to the most wealthy—typically only had one hand. 

Painting of the Day: Still Life with Fruit, a Lobster and Game, Late 17th C.

Still Life with Fruit and Dead Game
Michiel Simons, late Seventeenth C.
The Victoria  & Albert Museum

A stone table has been draped with a sumptuous, dark velvet cloth. Upon it, stands a roemer filled with white wine and a monumental porcelain bowl which has been filled with peaches, apricots, pears and grapes on the vine. A gleaming pewter plate artfully contains almonds and a partially peeled lemon with the voluptuous, curving rind still attached, curling over the table’s edge. A lobster has been placed on the cool surface of the table, along with a loaf of bread, red grapes, a pomegranate, more peaches, plums and pears and five small birds.

This typically Dutch still life is indicative of what I like to call the “Dead Animals/Rotting Fruit” style which was dominant in the Netherlands and in Flanders in the Seventeenth Century. This one is the work of Michiel Simons. Entitled “Still Life with Fruit, a Lobster and Dead Game,” this late Seventeenth Century work is really the ideal Dutch still life. In addition to showing a household’s wealth—noted with the ability to acquire exotic game, wine (usually served with lemon as it is here) and exceptional serving pieces, these still life paintings were the perfect opportunity for an artist to demonstrate his ability to capture different textures and lighting.

Mastery of Design: The Waterton Skull, 1680-1720

The Victoria & Albert Museum

Never fear, the Treat of the Week, will be coming on October 31, and I guarantee some spooky good fun!

In the meantime, let's look at something shiny.

Today’s sparkly thing is a rather ghastly little number. Here, we see an enameled gold ring with a bezel in the form of a skull and cross-bones which has been set with rose-cut diamonds

The Waterton Skull’s exact place of origin is unknown, but it is European and dates between 1680-1720. This sort of jewelry was worn after the death as a loved one as a memorial, but also as a memento mori—essentially a token to remind us all that we, too, shall die.

Get ready for some more ghoulish jewels in the coming day as we head toward Halloween.