Gold, pearl and enamel pendant, 16th Century - Photo Sotheby's

Designed as a pouncing lion, the main body set with a baroque pearl, the legs and face decorated with enamel, later pendant loop, together with a later chain highlighted with pearls, length approximately 445mm. Estimation: 10,000 - 15,000 GBP. Lot. Vendu 25,000 GBP

LITTERATURE: Cf: P.E.Mulller, Jewels in Spain, 1500-1800, New York 1972, fig 66

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: The use of the baroque pearl demonstrates the skill of the jeweller to adapt nature to a work of art. Such pendants were popular from the second half of the 16th century in particular in Spain and Germany and the Netherlands . Note in particular the design by Nacis Amat of 1605 in the Llibres des Passanties illustrated by Muller ( op.cit. fig 142. Note also the naturalistic anatomical detailing to the underside of the lion.

Sotheby's. The Jewellery Collection of the Late Michael Wellby: An Eclectic Eye - Jewels Spanning Four Centuries. London | 11 déc. 2012 www.sothebys.com