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| Pendant in the form of a ferret |
Date:16th century
Culture:Northern European
Medium:Gold, partly enameled, set with rubies and diamonds; pearls
Dimensions:Overall: 3 1/2 × 1 7/8 in. (8.9 × 4.8 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Gold and Platinum
Credit Line:Gift of George Blumenthal, 1941
Accession Number:41.100.26
The size of this jewel and related ones (see also 17.190.892; 17.190.893; 32.100.298; and 32.100.306) is such that only the closest viewer could appreciate their full beauty and dexterous execution; they represent the finest craftsmanship for the wealthiest patrons. Each combines gold with natural treasures, such as pearls and gemstones. Bulbous baroque pearls cleverly suggest the fluffy down of a swan’s underbelly or a cloudy mass supporting the Crucifixion. Tiny figures are enameled in the round. Melding the secular and the sacred, these jewels were made to be worn: pinned to garments or hanging close to their owners’ skin. The animals might be heraldic devices; the swan, for example, could symbolize the Society of the Virgin Mary, called the Order of the Swan, which was founded in mid-fifteenth-century Brandenburg in Germany.
[Elizabeth Cleland, 2017]
Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org
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