Important diamond, gold and enamel pendant, Spain early 17th Century.

An important diamond set gold and enamel pendant representing the Virgin of the immaculate conception.

Spanish, early 17th Century.

Measures 11 x 6.25 cm.

The pendant represents the Virgin of the immaculate conception, crowned and standing upon a crescent moon within a mandorla. The Virgin is surrounded by rays of sunlight in translucent red enamel, each terminating with a pearl. She wears a dress in red, white and blue enamels, against a pierced background decorated with oak leaves, flowers and foliage in white, red, blue and green enamels, punctuated with eight riveted pearls amidst diamonds, three pearl pendant drops hang beneath the Virgin symbolising her purity. The pendant suspends from a diamond set frame in the form of a coronet amidst further foliage above three riveted pearls.

This pendant was probably worn by a member of one of the many brotherhoods of the Immaculate Conception, which flourished at the end of the 16th Century, particularly in Seville, Spain.

Similar examples can be found in;
‘Joyaux Renaissance, Une Splendeur Retrouvée’, J. Kugel, catalogue no.62.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Accession Number: 1975.1.1515.