Antique jewelry glossary

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Figural pendants

A type of pendant having as its decoration the figure or figures of persons, usually Biblical, mythological or allegorical, or of fantastic animals such as sea-horses, dragons, lizards, and birds.

They were made of two types:

• having the body in the round, often in the form of a baroque pearl, with decoration of enamelling and gemstones
• having the human figures placed against a background in architectural style

Such jewelry was aspecially made during the second half of the 16th century, often designed and made in Germany and Italy.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson