Renaissance Jewelry
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Period: 18th Century and Earlier
Style: Renaissance
A Renaissance Diamond And Enamel Necklace 16th Century
Located in Firenze, IT
The pendant with an interlaced rose-cut diamond frame between white and black enamel, suspending box-shaped bezel set with a single table-cut diamond with black and white enamel deco...
Category
16th Century Italian Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel
Antique 17th ct. Cross Crucifix Diamonds 19K Yellow Gold / 9 gr
Located in SE
Very rare ca. early 17th century likely Italian or Spanish 19K Yellow Gold Cross Pendant with 24 Diamonds, all of table cut about 2 ctw. Hand - engraved decorations on the back side....
Category
Late 17th Century European Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Sapphire, 18k Gold
16th Century Agate Cameo Roman Charity Pendant
Located in Firenze, IT
Two-layered agate cameo, red and white, depicting Roman Charity on an amati background.
Italy, 16th century
H. 3.7 cm - L. 2.9 cm
Gold setting, eagle's head hallmark, 19th century
H....
Category
16th Century Italian Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Agate, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
16th Century Renaissance Gold Ring with Table Cut Rock Crystal 22K Gold
Located in London, GB
A stunning example of a European renaissance ring dating to 1550-1600! A table-cut rock crystal is mounted in a closed back rub over setting. The quatrefoil bezel is cuffed with a re...
Category
16th Century British Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Rock Crystal, 22k Gold
Antique English Posy Ring in 18 Karat Yellow Gold: Antique Wedding Band
Located in Fairfield, CT
An English posy ring, hailing from a bygone era, carries with it echos of romance and time-honored traditions. These rings, historically gifted betwe...
Category
17th Century European Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique Renaissance Gold Fede Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Fede ring
Western Europe, 16th - 17th century
Gold
Weight 3.8 gr; Circumference 61.64 mm; US size 9 3/4; UK Size T ¼
A delightful, sculpturesque Fede ring conveying love and loyalty
Plain gold hoop...
Category
16th Century European Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold
Scarce Renaissance 16th Century Rock Crystal Marriage Ring Medieval Middle Ages
Located in London, GB
A scarce late Renaissance gold ring, made in Western Europe, circa 1580-1620!
The quatrefoil bezel takes the form of a flower petals and contai...
Category
Early 1600s English Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Renaissance gold and diamond ring with enamel, 16th century
Located in Magdeburg, DE
An elegant, high carat, yellow gold Renaissance ring with a table-cut diamond in a rounded box setting with at the back a hatched border and vestigial four-claw setting decorated wit...
Category
16th Century Czech Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Gold, Enamel
Rare European 14th/15th Century 22/24 Kt Fede Ring
Located in Napoli, IT
Rare
Possibly English late 14th/15th century 22/24 Kt solid gold Fede ring from a private Italian collection
Please view Sotheby’s references for details
Fine condition
Unless otherw...
Category
15th Century and Earlier European Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
22k Gold
Renaissance Early 17th Century Enamelled 22K Gold Rose Cut Garnet Ring
Located in London, GB
A stunning and rare example of a European renaissance ring dating to circa 1600! It would have originally been worn by a young women of a wealthy and noble family. The tear-drop shaped bezel is encircled by multiple cuffs enamelled in white. Intricate chased scrolled detailing continues down the shoulders with further evidence of enamelling. In the centre rests a rose cut closed back garnet gemstone (a later replacement).
UK size G / US size 3.5, 1.79g, tested as 22k gold. The stone measures 4mm across. As the garnet stone replacement is not the perfect shape for the pear-shaped bezel, it could be easily replaced to a stone of your choice by a local jeweller!
During the Renaissance, finger rings developed from the simple forms of the medieval period into miniature works of art, combining the skills of the chaser, engraver, enameller and stone...
Category
Early 17th Century English Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Garnet, 22k Gold, Enamel
Cruciform NielloInlay FleurDeLys GiltEngravedCopperAlloy Heraldry Brooch Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
This 15th-Century period or older gilt copper and silver alloy amulet with niello inlay is an elaborately engraved three-dimensional brooch and pendant, which demonstrates the epitome of miniature decorative nielli in the early Renaissance by European goldsmiths of small cruciform or quatrefoil objects with heraldry symbols.
Beyond a dense array of engraved radiant-light, cloud and star motifs with punchwork, it features a 10mm fine black crested staff that is the Christian symbol for the Holy Trinity. This intricate engraving with niello has fleur-de-lys elements, like a French or Florentine coat-of-arms or monogram used to identify noble families or a significant person like a king. It tops a 5mm bar, which is bracketed by 10mm peaked bars that form a cross. When worn, it is positioned horizontally like an elongated barbed quatrefoil. The bars may be concealing a relic such as wood, while it is not clear how these pieces are attached to the front.
As a symbol of French conversion to Christianity, the French King Louis in the 12th Century made a fleur-de-lys element of the Holy Trinity vector the official emblem of his royal authority on shields. Later, English kings adopted it when claiming the French throne. By the 14th Century, the fleur-de-lys was used in family insignia that was sewn onto a knight's coat-of-mail surcoat. This coat-of-arms insignia could identify them if found on a battlefield.
The Met Cloisters museum collection includes a similarly sized mid-15th Century French gold brooch...
Category
15th Century and Earlier European Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Gilt Metal, Mixed Metal, Niello, Silver, Copper
Cufflinks 14k two tone Sapphire Diamonds
Located in New York, NY
This exquisite cuff link and stud set are a one-of-a kind execution from the Renaissance era! Featuring 128 round cut diamonds 2.60 ct VS F color and two cushion sapphires = 5.00 ca...
Category
Early 18th Century Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Diamond, Sapphire, 14k Gold
Gold Renaissance Ring with Roman Agate Intaglio Depicting a Horse
Located in Chicago, IL
Renaissance ring with Roman horse intaglio
Ring: Western Europe, c. 1580-90, Roman intaglio: 1st century AD
Gold, champlevé enamel, nicolo agate
Weight 5.2 gr.; Circumference 57.15 mm.; US size 8; UK size Q
In the Renaissance period, ancient cameos and intaglios were highly sought-after collectors’ items. Wealthy owners had them incorporated into signet rings, and in this case, an exceptional and rare ring with sophisticated enameling.
The Roman intaglio reflects the spirit of Humanism during the Renaissance, when there was a revived interest in Classical literature and the arts. The horse motif was most likely the personal choice of the wearer or giver of this ring who would have been familiar with its meaning in Classical Antiquity as a symbol of wealth and power. In Ancient Greece images of horses denoted aristocratic status, were symbolic of heroism and the all-important cavalry. A grazing horse as seen here may have represented a favored racehorse.
Description:
Gold ring with D-section hoop widening towards the oval bezel, plain on the interior and on the exterior the shoulder is decorated in gold against black enamel with symmetrical foliate and floral motifs. The frieze-like decoration continues along the sides of the facetted bezel with dots, dashes and scrollwork, a triangular form with acanthus foliage and fine gold framing line along the base of the bezel with raised mount and fluted collet for a nicolo-agate intaglio. Carved into the bluish grey on brown surface is a grazing horse seen in profile, head bent low. On the underside of the bezel is an elaborate cross motif with scrolls in black enamel against gold. Minor loss of enamel in some areas, through age and wear. The ring is in good wearable condition.
Literature:
Similar elaborately enameled signet rings set with ancient intaglios or Imperial laureate heads can be found in the British Museum, London (Dalton 1912, no. 308); Tarnóczy Collection; Hanns-Ulrich Haedeke Collection.
The highly embellished enameling along the hoop and bezel of this exceptional and rare ring is reminiscent of the ornamental prints...
Category
16th Century European Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Agate, Gold, Enamel
Antique Amuletic DozenRockCrystals Caged MedievalStyle FourRing Bronze Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique amuletic bronze framed pendant cages a dozen single-cut rock crystals that each feature a table-cut decagon crown, deep pavilion, 21 facets, uncut girdle, and 7mm diameter. They are tightly set within four linked rings to overlap at the same angle in a sparkling single row. Seeming to retain a little of its original gold gilding on just the interior, the frame that surrounds each of the four sections of three crystals enables them to reflect surprising pale-yellow-and-lime light when the pendant is viewed from certain angles.
Suggesting French heritage, the Medieval Frankish culture in northern France made jewelry in similar segmented or openwork shapes of wheels or whorls, which were worn as gem-decorated disk-shaped brooches or gold-caged rock...
Category
16th Century French Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Crystal, Rock Crystal, Gilt Metal, Bronze, Copper
16thCentury RockCrystal Hogback ScissorCut Silver HighRelief Scrollwork Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
In a rare scissor cut dating to the 1500s, this centuries-old prong-set hogback rock-crystal pendant produces a fascinating play of refractions in low light. With its rectangular nar...
Category
16th Century European Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Crystal, Rock Crystal, Silver
16thCentury Renaissance SilverRepousse Romantic Engagement Pendant Or HatBadge
Located in Chicago, IL
This early-16th-Century Renaissance period silver-repousse round medallion pendant features a romantic encounter in a rural landscape between a man and smiling woman wearing European-nobility fashion, including a men's feathered hat, tights and sword. A silversmith was commissioned by this unknown man to make the pendant as a hat badge to promote his affectionate nature, which is conveyed by the welcomed gestures between the adult couple, who stand cheek-to-cheek and hand-in-hand. As there is a church in the distant landscape, this may have been his wedding-engagement announcement.
It is worth noting that romantic love via marriage was a rarity before the 18th Century. The tragic romantic Italian legend of Romeo and Juliet was first translated into English for publication in 1562--several decades before Shakespeare turned it into a famous play about a deadly consequence of separating lovers.
The pendant medallion is framed with a filigree-like inward-curving bezel and a flat metal backplate, while its bail enables it to be pinned as a brooch or strung on a necklace.
A perfect engagement or wedding gift for a man or woman who loves antique...
Category
16th Century French Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Silver, Gilt Metal
16thCentury Renaissance GiltFiligree Silver PaintedAngel CrystalMedallionPendant
Located in Chicago, IL
With artistic value as a Renaissance chiaroscuro painting, this early 16th-Century period gilt silver-filigree pendant medallion encases a colorf...
Category
16th Century Italian Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Enamel, Copper, Gold
Renaissance Reliquary Pendant with Pearl and Enameling
Located in Chicago, IL
RELIQUARY PENDANT WITH PEARL
Spain or Spanish Netherlands, c. 1620
Gold, rock crystal, enamel, pearl, bone relics
Weight 12.9 grams; dimensions 40 ...
Category
1620s Spanish Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Pearl, Gold, Enamel
Rare 17th Century Late Renaissance Period Diamond Enamel Gold Snake Ring
Located in New York, NY
Fine, museum quality Late Renaissance period diamond, white and cobalt enamel gold snake ring
17th Century
This beautiful ring is a remarkable example of Late Renaissance period jewe...
Category
17th Century Unknown Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Diamond, Gold, Enamel
Renaissance Cameo Ring of Galba in a Modern Gold Setting
Located in Chicago, IL
Renaissance Cameo Of Galba (?) in Modern Gold Setting
Europe, 17th (?) century
Onyx and gold
Weight: 10.2 g.; circumference: 51.8 mm.; size: US 6, UK...
Category
17th Century European Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Onyx, Gold
Renaissance Gold Marriage Ring with Table-Cut Rock Crystal
Located in Chicago, IL
Renaissance Marriage Ring
Western Europe, late 16th century
Gold, rock crystal, traces of white and black enamel
Weight 4.09 g; circumference...
Category
16th Century European Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Rock Crystal, Gold
Gold and Diamond Renaissance Ring 17th Century
Located in Amsterdam, NL
One small gold ring set with a table cut diamond with dark blue champlevé enamel in stripes in the arcades of a box bezel and in the shank, Western Eur...
Category
Early 17th Century Dutch Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Diamond, Gold
Renaissance C.1580 Gilded Silver Niello Signet Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
This unique, museum quality partially gilded silver and niello Renaissance signet ring is probably Italian, circa 1580.
The engraved signet conceals a double meaning: a grotesque fac...
Category
16th Century Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Silver, Niello
Renaissance Cameo Pendant
Located in New Orleans, LA
The cameo at the center of this exceptional pendant is a stunning example of the art of gem engraving during the Renaissance. It likely dates to the early 17th century and features a sacrificial scene inspired by the Greco-Roman era. The central flaming altar is flanked by two figures preparing to sacrifice a ram, while a figure in a lion skin blowing horns stands in the left corner. The carver brilliantly uses the natural layers of the stone to achieve the illusion of shadow and musculature on the figures. A second, smaller cameo is set at the top of the pendant, while a myriad of multi-colored gems, pearls and enamel adorns the 18K gold setting. A large Baroque pearl suspended from an enamel dragon finishes the design, which embodies the opulence and theatricality of jewels from the Renaissance age.
Cameos and intaglios were highly popular amongst wealthy connoisseurs in Renaissance Italy, and owning the finest pieces was the privilege of princes. Although they were often elaborately mounted for display alone, cameos were also frequently worn as pendants, surrounded by enameled and stone-set gold frames. Such pieces were particularly prized by the Medici and Lorraine families, many of which can now be seen at the National Archeological Museum in Florence.
Very few Renaissance cameos...
Category
17th Century Italian Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Multi-gemstone, Pearl, 18k Gold, Enamel
Antique Gold Renaissance Pinky Ring with Two Dogs
Located in Chicago, IL
Renaissance Ring
Western Europe, likely Italy, mid-16th c.
Gold and traces of black and white enamel
Bezel 15 x 3 x 4 mm.; circumference 42 mm.; weight 2.7 gr.; US size 2 ¼; UK size ...
Category
16th Century Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Gold
Renaissance Rose Gold Sardonyx Cameo Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Ring with Renaissance cameo
Probably Northern Italy, cameo late 16th-early 17th century; ring: second half 18th century
Gold, sardonyx cameo (layered...
Category
16th Century Italian Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Agate, Rose Gold
Antique Gold and Agate Renaissance Cameo Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
RENAISSANCE CAMEO RING
Italy, cameo: second half of 16th century in a late 18th century ring
Gold, agate , black enamel
Weight 6.3 gr.; bezel 18.8 x 16.9 x 6.5 mm.; circumference 58.4 mm.; US size 8¾; UK size R
Cameo of a nude female bust...
Category
Late 17th Century Italian Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Agate, Gold
Antique Renaissance Marriage Portrait Cameo in Gold Setting
Located in Chicago, IL
RENAISSANCE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT CAMEO IN MODERN GOLD SETTING
Italy (?), 16th-17th century
White agate, modern gold setting
Weight: 10.8 g.; circumference: 54.4 mm.; size: US 7, UK N ½
Substantial rounded D-section hoop, narrowing at the base supports an oblong collet set with a white agate cameo. The cameo features a female bust behind a male bust in profile facing to the viewer’s left. The man has a curly beard, wears a fillet in his closely cropped hair, and wears a draped toga; the woman is less well defined and wears a palla. Both portraits have flat features. The carving has a metallic quality to its lines which enhances the sheen of the stone. The cameo is in excellent condition; the mount is modern.
The Renaissance welcomed a revival in the ancient art of gem carving and cameos achieved renewed popularity. Important patrons, like the Medici, employed artists and goldsmiths to make dozens of beautiful examples that harkened back to antiquity and displayed current fashions. Double portraits of a man and woman, as with this ring, are called marriage portraits. They take their form from cameos of Roman rulers, mythological lovers, and citizen couples.
Literature
This couple could be a sixteenth-century copy of an ancient gem or it could represent a Renaissnce couple in the guise of a Roman couple. The features do not point to any well-known couples. A double portrait cameo in the Royal Collection (RCIN 65861) provides a nice comparison to this ring and is from the same period. For an ancient example of the double portrait cameo see the Metropolitan Museum’s Germanicus and Agrippina (39.22.18) cameo. Another comparison, see the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (a 17th-century cameo with the double portrait of a couple in a three-layered agate, published in Babelon, 1897, n. 1019). For general information on Renaissance cameos...
Category
16th Century Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Agate, Gold, Yellow Gold
The Gigantas Pendant
Located in London, GB
The Gigantas Pendant, an important late 16th century Renaissance baroque pearl, gold and enamelled pendant, with later alterations, depicting one of the Greek gigantes, wearing the i...
Category
16th Century German Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Diamond, Natural Pearl, Ruby, Gold, 14k Gold, 22k Gold, Enamel, Yellow Gold
Antique Gold Italian Renaissance Cameo Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
RENSAISSANCE CAMEO RING
Italy? 16th century in a 20th century setting
Gold and sardonyx
Weight 6.5 gr.; bezel 16.1 x 16.9 x 7.4 mm.; circumference 50.3 mm.; US size 5½; UK size L
In this oblong cameo, the bust of a woman wearing a necklace but otherwise nude stands above a blue ground. While her breast faces forward, her head is rendered in a strict profile and her hands gesture to her right. The minimalist gold setting is modern and dates to the twentieth century.
Cameos depicting nude female figures became popular in the court circles of sixteenth-century Italy, where newly-formed princely collections of ancient gems served as models for contemporary hardstone artists. Following ancient practice, the artist responsible for the current cameo has cut into two layers of the multicolor agate, creating a background of milky blue that contrasts with the white flesh of the woman above. The sharp profile of the woman’s face likewise recalls the art of the ancient Romans, who often used the profile view for portraits on coins, medals, and engraved gems...
Category
16th Century Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Gold
Renaissance Gemstone Ring with Garnet and Enamel
Located in Chicago, IL
Renaissance Gemstone Ring
Northern Italy, 16th century
Gold, garnet and enamel
Circumference 60 mm.; weight 4 gr.; US size 9; UK size R ½
The ...
Category
16th Century Italian Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Gold
Antique Italian Cameo Hair Pin with Double Portrait of Cosimo I de Medici
Located in Chicago, IL
Cameo with Double Portrait of Cosimo I de Medici and Camella Martelli
Cameo, Northern Italy, late 16th century; mount with pin 18th century and later
Gold, onyx
Weight 3.7 gr.; 14.88 mm.
Two-layered onyx cameo (white on translucent pale brown) with jugate heads facing to the right looking upwards. The male head with short curly hair, beard and moustache wears a tunic draped around his neck and shoulders. The female head in the background has her hair tied back. They are cut in the white layer of the stone with translucent pale brown background. The cameo is convex on the reverse and open-set in a pendant with plain gold collet and rounded edges. A long gold pin is attached to the pendant loop and the opposite end has a section of coiled wire
Literature:
Portraits of Roman Emperors were popular and highly fashionable during the Renaissance period, rulers would often be portrayed like their ancient counterparts, also as a double portrait with spouse, or known as jugate heads. The individual features of the couple portrayed here suggest it could be a double portrait of Cosimo I de Medici (1519-1574) at a slightly older age and his second wife Camilla Martelli, Duchess Consort of Florence (1545-1590) whom he married in 1570. Bust sculptures of Cosimo de Medici in the Galleria Uffizi by Baccio Bandinelli...
Category
16th Century Italian Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Onyx, Gold
Antique Renaissance 16th Century Diamond Gold Ring
Located in London, GB
Renaissance diamond ring. An impressive 16th century ring, set with a square point cut diamond in a closed back rubover setting with an approx...
Category
16th Century Unknown Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Diamond, Yellow Gold
Renaissance Decorative Emerald Set Ring, circa 17th Century
Located in London, GB
Renaissance decorative emerald set ring. Set with a rectangular facetted natural emerald with no colour enhancement in a closed back rubover setting with an approximate weight of 1.00 carats, to a raised decorative collet with scalloped trim and fine beaded borders, engraved radiating pattern to the underside, and flanked by ornate carved shoulders with elevated scrolling openwork flourishes, all with traces of green, white and blue enamel, flowing through to a slim D-shape shank. Tested yellow gold, approximately 7.2g in weight, circa 17...
Category
17th Century Unknown Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Emerald, Yellow Gold
Late Renaissance Agate Cameo Ring Alessandro de' Medici
Located in Firenze, IT
Cameo depicting Alessandro de' Medici, known as (IL Moro or 'The Moor'), c. 16th - 17th century, in later gold ring mount, cameo 2.0cm high, ring size 7
Category
16th Century Italian Antique Renaissance Jewelry
Materials
Agate, Gold
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