Skip to main content

Antique Spanish Hat Badge Pendant Carved in Jet

Antique Spanish Hat Badge Pendant Carved in Jet

View Similar Items

High Victorian Faceted Jet Hat Pin with Sterling Silver Stem, 1890s

High Victorian Faceted Jet Hat Pin with Sterling Silver Stem, 1890s

Antique Art Nouveau Almeric Walter Antique Pâte De Verre Silver Pendant, France

Antique Art Nouveau Almeric Walter Antique Pâte De Verre Silver Pendant, France

Victorian Nouveau Trembler Spring Hat Pin with Pink Molded Glass Flower, 1900s

Victorian Nouveau Trembler Spring Hat Pin with Pink Molded Glass Flower, 1900s

Extra Long Victorian Aesthetic Milk Glass Globe Hat Pin with Crystals, 1900s

Extra Long Victorian Aesthetic Milk Glass Globe Hat Pin with Crystals, 1900s

Victorian Aesthetic Amber Glass Cabochon Hat Pin with Moorish Silver Base, 1900s

Victorian Aesthetic Amber Glass Cabochon Hat Pin with Moorish Silver Base, 1900s

Victorian Art Nouveau Extra Long Silver Globe Hat Pin with Brass Details, 1900s

Victorian Art Nouveau Extra Long Silver Globe Hat Pin with Brass Details, 1900s

Set of Two Extra Long Victorian Milk Glass Teardrop Hat Pins with Crystals, 1900

Set of Two Extra Long Victorian Milk Glass Teardrop Hat Pins with Crystals, 1900

Victorian Aesthetic Movement Moorish Brass Extra Long Teardrop Hat Pin, 1900s

Victorian Aesthetic Movement Moorish Brass Extra Long Teardrop Hat Pin, 1900s

Diamond Hat Pin 0.50 Carats 18 Karat White Gold Spear

Diamond Hat Pin 0.50 Carats 18 Karat White Gold Spear

Victorian Moorish Brass Extra Long Hat Pin with Turquoise and Crystals, 1900s

Victorian Moorish Brass Extra Long Hat Pin with Turquoise and Crystals, 1900s

Victorian Nouveau Brass Opaline Molded Glass Flower Hat Pin with Crystals, 1900s

Victorian Nouveau Brass Opaline Molded Glass Flower Hat Pin with Crystals, 1900s

Victorian Trembler Spring Hat Pin with Amethyst Molded Glass and Crystal ca 1900

Victorian Trembler Spring Hat Pin with Amethyst Molded Glass and Crystal ca 1900

Video Loading

1 of 5

Antique Spanish Hat Badge Pendant Carved in Jet

$10,000List Price

About the Item

BADGE WITH ST. JAMES THE GREAT Northern Spain, 16th century Silver, jet Weight 18.2 grams; dimensions 44 × 43 × 12 mm Round pendant with high-relief image of St. James the Great of Santiago de Compostela carved in jet. The saint is flanked by two pilgrims (their heads defaced); each holds a staff and rosary in his hand. Silver mount with plain flat backplate, corded wire surround and toothed edge as setting. Four pendant loops for sewing onto a hat or cloak. According to the Roman naturalist Pliny, jet, the material of which this pin was made, prevented snakebite and was “thrown up by the sea.” The first quality would certainly have been reassuring for a pilgrim who owned this object and who had to make long journeys over unfamiliar terrain. The second quality made jet an especially fitting material to honor St. James, given that his body arrived in Spain mysteriously, carried there “by the sea” from the Holy Land. Santiago de Compostela was a major center for jet carving from the late Middle Ages, and highly polished jet was a desirable and common material for pilgrimage souvenirs. One even finds scallop shells, the pilgrim’s badge for Santiago, carved of jet (see the scallop shell beads on nos. 23 and 24). Some of the imagery of this small roundel is difficult to decipher, but reference to a larger sculpture of St. James, also carved in jet and surely also a pilgrimage memento, clarifies the details. What we are looking at is two pilgrims kneeling to either side of the larger figure of the saint. (Jet fractures easily, so the loss of the heads of the pilgrims on this badge is not surprising, although the precision of the loss may implicate some sort of deliberate damage.) The sculpture from the Hispanic Society of New York includes the inscription “Pray for us, St. James,” clarifying the nature of both pieces as intercessory; that is, the pilgrims wished for James to act as intermediary for them before God. All three figures on the roundel hold staves and rosary beads, again identifying each as a praying pilgrim, a desirable status reflecting the aspirations of the owner, committed to the journey and hoping that it would bring him or her religious reward. James himself was typically characterized as a pilgrim in medieval imagery, and here we see him wearing a warm capacious cloak, a wide-brimmed hat, and in addition to his staff, carrying what appears to be a water canteen. The roundel was at one time modified to be worn or attached as a pendant, but it was originally intended as a badge. It has four loops (none of which is at the top of the roundel), which would have allowed it to be sewn to a cloak or a hat (see p. 128). Given that the pilgrim would have worn this roundel prominently displayed on his or her clothing, we can see its imagery as an act of self-definition—a gesture declaring that the wearer is a pilgrim, has been to Santiago, and has taken James as a patron saint and role model. Comparisons and Literature: For variants of the type and iconography of St. James the Great of Santiago de Compostela in jet, see Franco Mata 2005, pp. 169-212. Cf. various sixteenth-century examples of St. James in jet in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (exh. cat., Wallfahrt kennt keine Grenzen 1984, no. 211 and pp. 125-47); on a rosary in the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid; a statuette in the Instituto Valencia de Don Juan, Madrid (exh. cat., El arte de la plata y de las joyas en la España de Carlos V 2000, nos. 107 and 108); and slightly later in combination with a higa in the Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid (exh. cat., La Joyería Española 1998, no. 19). For the Compostela workshop of this period, cf. a pax in the Museo de Pontevedra (Franco Mata 2005, p. 183, fig. 30).

Metal:
Silver
Weight:
18.2 g
Dimensions:
Width: 1.7 in (43 mm)Depth: 0.48 in (12 mm)Length: 1.74 in (44 mm)
Place of Origin:
Spain
Period:
16th Century
Date of Manufacture:
c. 16th century
Condition:
Additions or alterations made to the original: At one time modified to be worn or attached as a pendant, unknown date and location of modification. Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Chicago, IL
Reference Number:
Seller: J-350261stDibs: LU2334213263562

You May Also Like

High Victorian Faceted Jet Hat Pin with Sterling Silver Stem, 1890s

Located in Tucson, AZ

A necessity during the Victorian Era, hat pins not only balanced precarious hats atop piles of hair but also moonlighted as weapons against overzealous gentlemen. Though teetering ha...

Category

Antique 1890s Unknown High Victorian More Objets d'Art and Vertu

Materials

Sterling Silver

High Victorian Faceted Jet Hat Pin with Sterling Silver Stem, 1890s

High Victorian Faceted Jet Hat Pin with Sterling Silver Stem, 1890s

$250

Free Shipping

Antique Art Nouveau Almeric Walter Antique Pâte De Verre Silver Pendant, France

Located in Munich, Bavaria

Pâte de Verre octopus mounted in silver signed ALW (Almeric Walter),Nancy

Category

Vintage 1910s French Art Nouveau More Jewelry

Materials

Silver

Antique Art Nouveau Almeric Walter Antique Pâte De Verre Silver Pendant, France

Antique Art Nouveau Almeric Walter Antique Pâte De Verre Silver Pendant, France

$2,030

Free Shipping

Victorian Nouveau Trembler Spring Hat Pin with Pink Molded Glass Flower, 1900s

Located in Tucson, AZ

A necessity during the Victorian Era, hat pins not only balanced precarious hats atop piles of hair but also moonlighted as weapons against overzealous gentlemen. Though teetering ha...

Category

Antique Early 1900s Unknown Art Nouveau More Objets d'Art and Vertu

Materials

Silver, Brass

Victorian Nouveau Trembler Spring Hat Pin with Pink Molded Glass Flower, 1900s

Victorian Nouveau Trembler Spring Hat Pin with Pink Molded Glass Flower, 1900s

$225

Free Shipping

Extra Long Victorian Aesthetic Milk Glass Globe Hat Pin with Crystals, 1900s

Located in Tucson, AZ

A necessity during the Victorian Era, hat pins not only balanced precarious hats atop piles of hair but also moonlighted as weapons against overzealous gentlemen. Though teetering ha...

Category

Antique Early 1900s Unknown Aesthetic Movement More Objets d'Art and Vertu

Materials

Crystal, Silver

Extra Long Victorian Aesthetic Milk Glass Globe Hat Pin with Crystals, 1900s

Extra Long Victorian Aesthetic Milk Glass Globe Hat Pin with Crystals, 1900s

$135

Free Shipping

Victorian Aesthetic Amber Glass Cabochon Hat Pin with Moorish Silver Base, 1900s

Located in Tucson, AZ

A necessity during the Victorian Era, hat pins not only balanced precarious hats atop piles of hair but also moonlighted as weapons against overzealous gentlemen. Though teetering ha...

Category

Antique Early 1900s Unknown Aesthetic Movement More Objets d'Art and Vertu

Materials

Silver

Victorian Aesthetic Amber Glass Cabochon Hat Pin with Moorish Silver Base, 1900s

Victorian Aesthetic Amber Glass Cabochon Hat Pin with Moorish Silver Base, 1900s

$250

Free Shipping

Victorian Art Nouveau Extra Long Silver Globe Hat Pin with Brass Details, 1900s

Located in Tucson, AZ

A necessity during the Victorian Era, hat pins not only balanced precarious hats atop piles of hair but also moonlighted as weapons against overzealous gentlemen. Though teetering ha...

Category

Antique Early 1900s Unknown Art Nouveau More Objets d'Art and Vertu

Materials

Silver, Brass

Victorian Art Nouveau Extra Long Silver Globe Hat Pin with Brass Details, 1900s

Victorian Art Nouveau Extra Long Silver Globe Hat Pin with Brass Details, 1900s

$225

Free Shipping

Recently Viewed

More Ways To Browse

Antique Rosary Beads

Money Clip Horse

14k Pocket Knife

Gold Money Clips

Cartier Chimera

Cocktail Swizzle Stick

Faberge Bell Push

Gold Swizzle Stick

Patek Philippe Keychain

Patek Philippe Tray

Vienna Enamel Antique Carriage Clock

De Beers Hourglass

Cartier Panthere Watch Diamond Bezel

View All Popular More Objets d'Art and Vertu Searches