POSSIBLY SOUTH GERMANY, EARLY 17TH CENTURY, AND WITH LATER ELEMENTS

Details

A CONTINENTAL JEWELED AND ENAMELED GOLD PENDANT OF SALOME
POSSIBLY SOUTH GERMANY, EARLY 17TH CENTURY, AND WITH LATER ELEMENTS
Of openwork architectural form, the central group depicting Salome and the head of John the Baptist flanked by two soldiers enameled in white and pale blue, the figures supported on a plinth set with table-cut rubies set plinth, the upper body formed of scrollwork set with additional rubies and pearls, with three pendant pearls, the reverse of the plain backplate enameled with champlevé enamel scrolls and foliage, mounted in gold, with suspension ring
4 in. (10.2 cm.) high
2 oz. 5 dwt. (70 gr.) gross weight

Provenance

Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (1827-1905), in Entresol, hôtel Saint-Florentin, Paris.
Baron Édouard de Rothschild (1868-1949), in Fumoir sur la cour, hôtel Saint-Florentin, Paris.
Confiscated from the above by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg following the Nazi occupation of France in May 1940 (ERR no. R 2494).
Recovered by the Monuments Fine Arts and Archives Section from the Altaussee salt mines, Austria, and transferred to the Munich Central Collecting Point, 28 June 1945 (MCCP no. 1371/28).
Returned to France on 2 March 1946 and restituted to the Rothschild family.
By descent to the present owners.

Literature

The Rothschild Archive, London, Inventaire après le décès de Monsieur le Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, A. Cottin Notaire, 16 October 1905, 000/1037/01(hôtel Saint-Florentin, Entresol: 'Bijou, trois personnages or, émail, rubis XVIe siècle, estimé dix mille francs').
Y. Hackenbroch, Renaissance Jewellery, Munich, 1979, p. 180-181, illustrated p. 179, No. 490.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
A. Somers Cocks and C. Truman, Renaissance Jewels, Gold Boxes, and Objets de Vertu, 1984, p. 96.

Conditions of sale

Lot Essay

The biblical story of Salome seductively performing for King Herod and demanding as her reward the head of John the Baptist has been a popular source of inspiration since the early periods of Christian art. Depictions of the fateful tale were especially popular in the Renaissance period (1300-1600) and a favorite subject for Renaissance jewels. The moral of the story being the need to resist temptation, the jewel could be perceived as a deterrent to protect the chastity of women.

Stylistically this pendant seems typical of South Germany with its strapwork and complex scrollwork partly enameled in various colors to enhance the modular construction of the jewel. It is very much based on the designs by Daniel Mignot, published in Augsburg in 1593 which show the holes through which extra decoration could be bolted if needed and are clearly visible here.
This style of architectural pendant spread throughout Central Europe and dominated the first half of the 17th century. Nonetheless, the construction of the piece suggests that it may have been recomposed and enhanced using other jewel parts.

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