Silver Reliquary Pendant

17TH CENTURY A.D. OR EARLIER

2 in. (30.9 grams, 51 mm).

Presenting a scalloped frame and bifacial black enamelled detailing: one side with the Crucifixion scene, niello 'IC XC' in the field, two saints at the foot of the cross, scrolling borders; the reverse with 'IC XC / NI KA' over two lines with cross between; articulate and facetted loop.

Provenance

From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

Literature

Cf. for reliquary pendant in similar style see the British Museum, London, museum no. AF.354, for a 6th century reliquary from Constantinople.

Footnotes

A small reliquary pendant, possibly containing the remains of cloth or bone of a saint. The relics had to be kept in containers that expressed the dignity of their contents: chests, cases and, of course, reliquaries. This also applied to personal relics, often in the form of pendants, which were sometimes made in gold and silver.

CONDITION

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LOT 1904