Description
This is a large and beautifully decorated English sterling silver Arts and Crafts cross, set with a central oval turquoise. It dates from the early decades of the twentieth century and is included with a lovely antique Arts and Crafts chain. This design of chain I have seen on Sibyl Dunlop and Amy Sandheim pieces and the cross bears motifs I have seen in their work too. The bale is also split and decorated as with previous Amy pendants I have come across. However, as this design is such a one-off, I just do not have enough to go on to positively attribute.
This is such an incredibly attractive necklace, with naturalistic floral and foliate detailing decorating the whole of the front of the pendant. I adore this naturalistic theme that presents us with a mix of leaves with stems, tiny forget-me-not flowers as well as with tiny clusters of three balls representing berries. The bale is a split bale, decorated with a tiny circle on each side and dotted with silver balls-all very in keeping with the age of the pendant, so I assume it is original.
The pale blue of the turquoise is there in symbolism as the colour of the forget-me-not flower, which represented everlasting love. It is a spellbinding necklace, which harnesses naturalistic motifs to express the permanence of love. Beautiful!
A lovely heavy A&C sterling silver chain means that you can pop this beautiful thing over your head easily. It has no catch so will be secure when worn. Please note that it does not double on the neck, as per on the black mannequin, as that model is slightly smaller than human size. The pale mannequin is human sized. The pendant is large, at approx 10cm in height and approx 6.3cm wide. The chain measures approx 69cm (27 inches) in length. In excellent condition, with some age-related patina you could polish if you desire. I think the patina really adds depth to the design on the cross.
Please note the box is for display purposes only but the necklace will be securely boxed in another box for safe passage. Complimentary tracked and signed postage is included. Thank you.
Ref: dgc
