Pendant with a Mermaid
1885/1890
Jeweler, French, 1839 - 1919
Artwork overview
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Medium
baroque pearl; gold enameled in white, black, pale blue, translucent blue, red, and green; 14 diamonds, 10 rubies, 9 pearls
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Credit Line
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Dimensions
overall (with chain): 13.2 x 7.6 x 1.1 cm (5 3/16 x 3 x 7/16 in.)
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Accession
1942.9.308
Artwork history & notes
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
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.
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.
Wikidata ID
Q62131043