Magnificent Antique "Lazo" Earrings with Emeralds in Gold, Spain, c. 1760

The history of jewellery on the Iberian Peninsula has followed its own path in many respects. One reason for this was that, thanks to their colonies in South America, both Spain and Portugal already possessed far more precious colored gemstones than other European countries as early as the 18th century. Consequently, jewellery from these countries is often more opulent and colorful than, for example, jewellery from Germany. This pair of earrings dates from around 1760. It is crafted from high-karat gold and richly set with emeralds from Colombia. The design is typical of the era, divided into three parts: They consist of an upper section with delicate tendrils surrounding a spherical center, followed by a characteristic intermediate element called a lazo, or bow, and a pendant lower section that is symmetrical to the upper part. Earrings of this type have survived in several collections. The Metropolitan Museum in New York owns a very similar pair; see here., another is illustrated in Ginny Reddington Dawes / Olivia Collings: Georgian Jewellery 1714–1830, Woodbridge 2007, p. 109, as well as in Daniela Mascetti/Amanda Triossi: Earrings. From Antiquity to the Present, London 1990, p. 55. Just how widespread this type of earring was is demonstrated not least by a painting of Doña María de la Luz Padilla, painted around 1760 and housed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York, see here—: The woman depicted belonged to the nobility of the Viceroyalty of New Spain and lived in Mexico City. She combines her earrings—very similar to the ones shown here—with impeccable taste, along with a few fashionable beauty spots and an elegant wig. The pair shown here is exceptionally finely crafted and very good in terms of preservation. It still has the original hinged hooks, which snap securely into the backs of the upper parts. We discovered this pair in the Netherlands.

Estimate:£5,035.42

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