Pendant in the form of a seated cat

The tiny animal of this pendant has the expectant look of an impatient house cat awaiting its bowl of cream. A design for a comparable jewel with a seated but somewhat more placid cat appears in a drawing by Gabriell Gomar, dated 1603, from the Llibres de Passanties, a set of volumes in the Barcelona Archivo Histórico de la Ciudad, containing the master drawings of applicants for admission to the Barcelona goldsmiths’ guild. The drawing was illustrated by Priscilla E. Muller, who noted that similar jewels had previously been considered to be German.[1] From the evidence provided by the design, however, Yvonne Hackenbroch has attributed this jewel to a Spanish goldsmith working about 1580 to 1590.

The Spanish design shows the cat seated on a cushion-like base decorated with ornamental scrolling. The base of this jewel consists of an oval plinth with openwork guilloche-patterned sides. The underside, possibly a later replacement, is decorated with enameled birds and foliage that owe their inspiration to the enamels associated with such northern centers as Augsburg and Prague.

Footnotes:
[1] P. E. Muller, Jewels in Spain, 1500–1800, New York, 1972, p. 94, fig. 149.


[Clare Vincent, The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1984, pp. 181–82, no. 98]