Twelve Medallions Mounted as a Necklace

The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Twelve Medallions Mounted as a Necklace as jewelry (France, Paris · c. 1400).

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

These medallions, which have loops on the backs, must have originally been sewn onto a garment or, more likely, a woman’s headpiece. In spite of the modern chain to which they are now attached, the medallions are unique items of feminine apparel from around 1400.

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

FamiliarWeird

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this jewelry as enameled gold, precious stones, and pearls; some later additions with modern chain.

The museum's collection notes: These medallions, which have loops on the backs, must have originally been sewn onto a garment or, more likely, a woman’s headpiece. In spite of the modern chain to which they are now attached, the medallions are unique items of feminine apparel from around 1400. Such items would have been well known at the courts of the Valois in Paris, Bourges, and Dijon. The central medallion with a “white lady” is enameled “in the round”––a new Parisian technique for enameling irregular or three-dimensional surfaces. Such white lady medallions are described in inventories of the period

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

The Cleveland Museum of ArtTwelve Medallions Mounted as a Necklace

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