Items Similar to Cruciform NielloInlay FleurDeLys GiltEngravedCopperAlloy Heraldry Brooch Pendant

Rose Gold Floral Brooch with Thirty One Diamonds and Emerald by Artist

White Gold Contemporary Floral Brooch with Diamonds and Emerald

18 Karat White Gold with White Diamonds Brooch

Vintage Diamond Brooch

Vintage Aquamarine and Diamond Flower Head Brooch

Cameo, Topazs, Rubies, Diamonds, Rose Gold and Silver Brooch/Pendant.

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 16

Cruciform NielloInlay FleurDeLys GiltEngravedCopperAlloy Heraldry Brooch Pendant

About the Item

This 15th-Century period or older gilt copper and silver alloy amulet with niello inlay is an elaborately engraved three-dimensional brooch and pendant, which demonstrates the epitome of miniature decorative nielli in the early Renaissance by European goldsmiths of small cruciform or quatrefoil objects with heraldry symbols. Beyond a dense array of engraved radiant-light, cloud and star motifs with punchwork, it features a 10mm fine black crested staff that is the Christian symbol for the Holy Trinity. This intricate engraving with niello has fleur-de-lys elements, like a French or Florentine coat-of-arms or monogram used to identify noble families or a significant person like a king. It tops a 5mm bar, which is bracketed by 10mm peaked bars that form a cross. When worn, it is positioned horizontally like an elongated barbed quatrefoil. The bars may be concealing a relic such as wood, while it is not clear how these pieces are attached to the front. As a symbol of French conversion to Christianity, the French King Louis in the 12th Century made a fleur-de-lys element of the Holy Trinity vector the official emblem of his royal authority on shields. Later, English kings adopted it when claiming the French throne. By the 14th Century, the fleur-de-lys was used in family insignia that was sewn onto a knight's coat-of-mail surcoat. This coat-of-arms insignia could identify them if found on a battlefield. The Met Cloisters museum collection includes a similarly sized mid-15th Century French gold brooch/pendant with a like pin hinge and c-clasp. On view in its Gallery 13, the description notes: "Expensive jewelry played an important role in betrothal and marriage, and the groom gave brooches to the bride as tokens of love." From around the same mid-century Renaissance period, several Florentine artists who were master engravers and goldsmiths were known for the finest work in niello. While little of their work since the 1450s survives, some circa-1460-1480 processional crosses of gilt silver and copper that contain religious relics can be found in the collections of leading museums. Otherwise, the poly-lobed shape and ornate engraving on this brooch/pendant seem to have evolved since the 5th Century from Anglo-Saxon "square-headed" bow brooches. They have the same copper and niello metalwork with equally lavish engraving, but with an older and larger Roman-style of fastening for cloaks. Comparatively, the findings on this brooch/pendant are among the earliest forms of hinge-and-clasp for an attached pin. The central engraving on this brooch/pendant is painstakingly inlaid with niello, which is an ancient sulphur resin mixed with copper, silver and lead that resembles black enamel. It is rare for centuries-old niello to remain intact like this. This helps to date this to the early Renaissance before European artists mastered colorful and black enamels. As signs of age and use, the brooch/pendant in very good condition has minute oxidation and dark spots, along with a front hair-line scratch across a textured edge and a pinpoint indentation at the side peak of one of the bars. These are not visible with the naked eye, while they are apparent in our closeups. The spots of verdigris and white metal indicate other elements below the gilding including silver. We took some of the photos in natural light to best show the metallic colors. While the brooch/pendant has red tones associated with copper in some light, it otherwise appears a matte golden color to suggest there may be gold in the gilt. The amulet had been a family heirloom found at a U.S. estate in New York, but without any history.

Metal:

Gilt Metal,Mixed Metal,Niello,Silver,Copper

Weight:

6.88 g

Dimensions:

Height: 1 in (25.4 mm)Width: 1.5 in (38.1 mm)Depth: 0.5 in (12.7 mm)

Style:

Renaissance

Place of Origin:

Europe

Period:

15th Century and Earlier