Antique jewelry glossary

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Spanish jewelry

See our: spanish jewelry.

Articles of jewelry made in Spain, especially during the 16th and 17th centuries, by the many native and immigrant goldsmiths and jewellers there. Owing to the wealth of the country, the jewelry was of a sumptuous nature.

Characteristic articles were:

• The Lazo
• The long pendent earring decorated with enamelling and set with pearls and gemstones
• The Reliquary, often decorated with a small panel of Verre Églomisé, with enamelling and gemstones
• The badge (e.g. venera) worn by members of religious orders, some being of openwork gilded brass (sometimes of gold) and decorated with opaque enamelling in white, black, and blue; some badges of this type were square, rectangular, triangular or oval, and were made in two sections, a central area with an enamelled religious design and a surrounding frame with a rayed rim, and having a miniature on the reverse under a crystal.

Much Spanish jewelry was set with emeralds imported from Peru (often stones with feathers) and usually was decorated on the reverse with engraved designs. Green paste was sometimes used in imitations of emeralds. Related to the typical Spanish articles but different in style was the Hispano-Moresque jewelry, being more ornate and usually decorated with filigree enamel.

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

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