Lot 59. A rare jewelled gold pectoral cross, Georgian, 17th century. Height of cross 4.8cm, 1 7/8 in.; length of chain 17.8cm, 7in. Estimate £40,000 - £60,000. © Sotheby's.

the pendant of treflée cross form, set with rubies, garnets and emeralds, the corners with projecting pearls, the pin with a double-headed ruby-set eagle, the reverse engraved with quatrefoils on a reeded background, unmarked, with associated short chain or bracelet, formed as gold cloison flowers set with nephrite and rubies, linked with gold rods with pearl terminals.

Provenance: Lazar Lazarovitch Lazareff (1700 Isfahan, Persia, d.1782, Moscow);

By descent to his great granddaughter, Dorothee d’Abzac, born Lazareff-Hoym (d.1866);

Thence by descent.

Note: Artists in Georgia were among the first in the ancient world to process metals.  Among the archaeological finds of the Trialeti and Bedeni mounds of southern Georgia are fine gold pins, elaborately chased, dating from the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. Enamel was used in the production of Georgian jewellery by the 5th century BC (see A. Jakakhishvili and G. Abramishvili, Jewellery and Metalwork in the Museums of Georgia, Aurora, Leningrad, 1986, pl. 21).  The country’s geographical position between Turkey, Persia and the Silk Road to the south and the important commercial centre of Moscow to the north resulted in foreign influences, including Indian motifs and techniques, appearing frequently in Georgian jewellery throughout the centuries. Objects produced before Georgia’s incorporation into the Russian Empire in 1801 bear extensive Eastern characteristics which, combined with the country’s rich tradition of metalwork, make Georgian jewellery distinctive. The construction of the present cross and chain, for example, particularly the setting of the stones, resembles Indian work.  The double-headed eagle, although suggestive to the modern eye as Russian, was a common emblem and was used most prominently in the early 18th century by Vakhtang VI, who ruled the Eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartli.

A necklace and cross nearly identical to the present lot is in the collection of the Georgian National Museum (inv. no. 9530) and is dated to the 17th century.  Another, also with the double-headed eagle but with rectangular links, is in the same collection (inv. nos. 10 002-10 004) and is part of a parure which includes a diadem and an additional pendant; these pieces are believed to have come from a Tbilisi workshop (see Sanikidzé, T. and Abramishvili, G., Orfèvrerie Géorgienne du VIIe au XIXe siècle, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva, 1979, pls. 69-71).  A variant example, with thicker links and cross, with the addition of diamonds, and with a dove in place of the double-headed eagle, is in the British Museum (museum no. 1983, 0102.1). A similar Georgian jeweled and enameled gold cross pendant and chain, belonging to the Princely House of Dadiani, was sold at Sotheby’s London, Treasures, 9 July 2014, lot 28 (£74,500).

Jewelled necklace and cross, Georgian, 17th century © Georgian National Museum (inv. no. 9530).

From the princely family of Dadiani. A jewelled and enamelled gold cross pendant and chain, Georgian, late 17th century; height of cross 4.8cm, 1 7/8 in.; length of chain 35cm, 13 7/8 in. Sold for 74,500 GBP at Sotheby’s London, Treasures, 9 July 2014, lot 28. © Sotheby's.

Reliquary cross and chain, Georgia, 17th century; Length: 38 cm (chain), Length: 6.5 cm (cross), 1983,0102.1. © Trustees of the British Museum.