NECKLACES WITH THEMES AND ARTIFACTS OF EUROPEAN CULTURES:

#1693

Small collar with

antique Italian stone inlay pieces made in the “pietra dura” technique; antique beads of jet, and additional beads of tsavorite, Australian and African opal, & 14k gold.

Notes:

This type of antique jewelry developed during the 16th century in Florence, Italy can be confused with micromosaic jewelry made later on, since it does use a similar technique of inlaying stone into a background to form a picture and they were set into similar styles of simple frames in many instances. However, pietra dura designs were made using larger and fewer pieces of stone in comparison to the tiny pieces making up intricate micromosaics.

#1163

A necklace with mid 20th century marcasite pieces.  Also including fine silver beads from Bali, and beads of spinel, and black onyx. 

Notes: 

The necklace was originally made in 1995 with marcasite pieces collected by the artist’s mother during the 1940’s and 50’s.