Pendant with a Youth Playing a Lyre and Riding an Elephant
The iconography of this jewel is apparently the creation of the designer. It may perhaps have resulted from combining a figure of Apollo or Orpheus, the two most widely represented harp players from classical mythology, with the small gold elephant worn by recipients of the Danish Order of the Elephant. The scrolled backplate of the pendant and some rather perfunctory floral ornament are cast in a single piece from a three-dimensional model. Visible on the back are the clumsy attempts to disguise the joints of the setting of the four large diamonds. Two bent fold pins secure the elephant.
[Clare Vincent, The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1984, p. 202, no. 123]
[Clare Vincent, The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1984, p. 202, no. 123]
Artwork Details
- Title: Pendant with a Youth Playing a Lyre and Riding an Elephant
- Date: probably second half 19th century
- Culture: European
- Medium: Enameled gold set with diamonds and rubies and with pendant pearls
- Dimensions: Height: 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm)
- Classifications: Jewelry, Metalwork-Gold and Platinum
- Credit Line: The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982
- Object Number: 1982.60.386
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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