Romantic Locket With Matching Gold & Engraved Coral Earrings, Netherlands

This romantic set of gold and red Mediterranean coral jewellery dates from around 1870. It consists of a pair of earrings and a pendant with a small glazed locket compartment on the back. A sculpted ornamental frame of bows, leaf shapes and flowers surrounds the oval-cut corals, while small chains form the fringes at the bottom. It is particularly noteworthy that the precious corals used here are engraved: We recognize a small heart pierced by an arrow in each case. This is undoubtedly the arrow of Cupid, the god of love. Cupid shoots arrows at people with a small bow - and as he usually does this blindfolded, his love arrows often hit unplanned, accidentally and by mistake. His quiver contains arrows with different tips: One half is made of gold, the other of lead. The golden arrow ignites people in the fire of love, while the lead arrow leaves them indifferent and unimpressed. We naturally assume that the hearts in the corals were shot by golden arrows! This results in a set with a romantic love context, which is further enhanced by the pendant - this doubles as a locket, which can hold a lock of hair or a picture of the person giving the gift. We have added a new gold chain to the pendant so that the set can be worn immediately.

Estimate:£1,591.46

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