Sorority Skull Chi Omega Seed Pearl Pin, Ruby Eyes and Pearl Skull, 1930

This pin is an estate piece with a beautiful history. The pin represents the Kappa Delta (KD) sorority, originally founded in 1897. The Alpha Phi sorority pa...

The Gamma Phi Beta Sorority pin from Syracuse University is from 1985. The pin is over 40 years old and is in excellent condition! All the pearls are t...

This pin is an estate piece with a beautiful history. The pin represents the Alphi Phi sorority, originally founded in 1872. The Alpha Phi sorority was the f...

This Gamma Phi Beta brooch / pin is an estate piece with a beautiful history. The Gamma Phi Beta sorority was originally founded in Syracuse University ...

This antique flower pendant brooch can be worn as a pendant or as a brooch/pin. If you look carefully, you will see that the pearls are genuine ...

This small black enamel bar pin has a gorgeous cultured pearl in the center and the gold is 14 karat rose gold. This is a retro pin with the rose, black and ...

A very fine signed Art Deco hat pin. By Riker Bros. In 14k yellow gold. With alternating stripes of black enamel and channel set seed pearls. Th...

Magnificent piece from the Georgian Period. An antique stick pin brooch, created in the United Kingdom between the kingdoms of George III (17...

The frog cufflinks are beautifully rendered in Guilloche enamel in vibrant shamrock green color layered over 18K patterned gold and inset with exquisite rubies (set upside-down for a...

Sweet, edgy, and boho pin, creative and fun to wear, charming with this 9 caratyellow gold pin in fox head design. The fox head itself has incredible details, from its whiskers to it...

Swiss brooch, ca 1880. Oval enameled plaque in gold frame; rim comprises applied scrolls heightened with enamel and inset with pearls.The plaque depicts t...

Pendant with Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven Western Europe, Southern Germany (?), Italy (?), c. 1550-1560 Gold, enamel, diamonds, and pearls Weight 13.2 gr; Length 36.9 x 31.2 mm (incl. pearls) This sumptuous image exudes regal power. It portrays the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven wearing a dress and crown studded with seven large diamonds and set against a translucent, rich blue celestial background. Far removed from the tender, humble Virgin seen in German and Netherlandish artworks of the period, she is a majestic ruler, mouth sternly set, head tilted upward, and face in full profile. The oval pendant cast in high gold relief with a central medallion, the single figure filling the space, echoes jewelry portraits of the aristocracy during the Renaissance, which similarly offset the ruler’s image against a blue field composed of enamel or lapis lazuli, symbolic of divine power Only the rays of the shining gold halo that emerge behind the Virgin’s head and her long flowing hair (instead of neatly coiffed) distinguish her from female ruler portraits of the period. Three studded pearls, forming an axis, also recall pendants of European rulers. Wealth, royal status, and divine power come together in this opulent pendant. Portraits of the period show similar small oval pendants worn by women in the square of the garment or by men nestled inside multiple chains below the base of the neck. PROVENANCE European Private Collection LITERATURE Compare images from ancient Rome, for example a sardonyx cameo with female head (Kugel 2000, no. 18; Milan, c. 1550), and a pendant with gold, pearls, and enamel in the Staatliche Museum Kassel (Schmidberger/Richter 2001, no. 43; France, c. 1555-1560). For ruler pendants with blue backgrounds see a pendant of King Frances I...