Pendant with a Mermaid, 1885/1890

Not on View

Medium

baroque pearl; gold enameled in white, black, pale blue, translucent blue, red, and green; 14 diamonds, 10 rubies, 9 pearls

Dimensions

overall (with chain): 13.2 x 7.6 x 1.1 cm (5 3/16 x 3 x 7/16 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.308

Artists / Makers

Alfred André (jeweler) French, 1839 - 1919

Image Use

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Provenance

Said to have belonged to Comtesse Batowska (city unknown). Charles J. Wertheimer [1842-1911], London. (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); purchased 28 October 1911 by Peter A. B. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, probably as Italian sixteenth century, style of Benvenuto Cellini; inheritance from the Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, 1942.

Associated Names

Batowska, Comtesse
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Wertheimer, Charles J.
Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

Technical Summary

This piece contains table-cut stones. There are rectangular box settings on the cartouche shield, chain, body, and belt, and a bowl setting reduced to a thin fluting on the fish's body. The enamel is slightly chipped.

Bibliography

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 47.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 11, as Italian 16th Century (Style of Benvenuto Cellini).

1956: Steingräber, Erich. Alter Schmuck. Munich, 1956: 114, fig. 190; English ed. 1957: 113, fig. 190.

1959: Stone, Peter. "Baroque Pearls II." Apollo (February 1959): 33, fig. 5.

1960: Wilkens, Manja. Das Schmuckbrevier. Hamburg, 1960: 141-142, pl. 20.

1966: Hansmann, Liselotte, and Lenz Kriss-Rettenbeck. Amulett und Talisman. Munich, 1966: 111, fig. 298.

1974: Fröhlich, Ruth and Max, eds. Benvenuto Cellini: Aghandlungen über die Goldschmiedekunst und die Bildhauerei. Basel, 1974: 55, color repro.

1974: Heiniger, Ernst A., and Jean Heiniger. The Great Book of Jewels. Boston, 1974: 230, repro.

1981: Newman, Harold. An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewellery. London, 1981: 199, 200, repro.

1983: Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 165-166, repro., frontispiece.

1993: Distelberger, Rudolf, Alison Luchs, Philippe Verdier, and Timonthy H. Wilson. Western Decorative Arts, Part I: Medieval, Renaissance, and Historicizing Styles including Metalwork, Enamels, and Ceramics. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1993: 295-297, color repro. 295.

2019: Vignon, Charlotte. Duveen Brothers and the Market for Decorative Arts, 1880-1940. New York, 2019: 103, 259 n. 269.