Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A pair of antique Portuguese enamel and pearl earpendants, the scrolled panel surmount with domed centre, suspending similar scrolled panel drops below incorporating dolphin motifs, decorated to the front and back with green, white and red enamel and highlighted with pearls, untested and unwarranted, mounted in yellow gold, one marked for Operto 1821-1855, both with further unidentified marks, with hinged hoop fittings, length 8.5cm. £1000-1500

A pair of earrings of almost identical design, although possibly slightly smaller, can be seen in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon. They form part of a group of similar earrings, acquired from Spanish convents, which are dated to the 17th and 18th centuries. Leonor d’Orey states that these baroque style earrings, of Renaissance design with Oriental influences, were popular throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. They are set with pearls and enamelled in interesting colour combinations, in which green is prominent. See Leonor d’Orey, Five Centuries of Jewellery: National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon, Zwemmer, 1995, plate 44 and page 26.

There are also a similar pair of earrings in the British Museum, dated to the 18th century.