2446

Important gold-and-emerald pendant (62 high-quality emeralds) in bow shape with round central device

Currency:USD Category:Artifacts / Shipwreck Artifacts Start Price:15,000.00 USD Estimated At:35,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
Important gold-and-emerald pendant (62 high-quality emeralds) in bow shape with round central device
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This item SOLD at 2010 Oct 23 @ 17:46UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Important gold-and-emerald pendant (62 high-quality emeralds) in bow shape with round central device, in custom wooden box. 86.8 grams, approx. 3-1/2" x 3". This stunning jewel of a large bow-like design popular among nobility and royalty in the late 1600s, undoubtedly influenced by the notorious jewelry-collecting habits of Charles II's wife Maria Luisa of Orleans, bears a staggering 62 high-grade Colombian emeralds, table-cut, in various sizes, set in 7 heavy gold "ribbons" and in a central button and large drop in the bottom, with empty sockets where 31 more emeralds once appeared, the bottom drop with empty space inside and tiny loop at top where a large interior piece with yet more emeralds once hung. Otherwise there is no other damage, save some sandwashing, which imparted matte surfaces onto the gold and emeralds, as well as small bits of encrustation here and there; but while its luster is gone, the stunning size and composition of this piece make it a unique jewel that should be recognized as one of the most important unheralded finds ever made not only on the 1715 Fleet but on any Spanish shipwreck, comparable only to some diamond jewels found by Bob “Frogfoot” Weller, and probably part of a set of emerald jewels for the Queen that were documented to have been on the 1715 Fleet and not recovered by the Spanish (original documentation from the Archives in Spain to be supplied).From the Spanish 1715 Fleet, east coast of Florida. (Corrigans site, found in the mid-1980s).