Artwork Page for Twelve Medallions Mounted as a Necklace

Details / Information for Twelve Medallions Mounted as a Necklace

Twelve Medallions Mounted as a Necklace

c. 1400

France, Paris

Medium
enameled gold, precious stones, and pearls; some later additions with modern chain
Measurements
Diameter: 4.5 x 1.6 cm (1 3/4 x 5/8 in.); Part 1: 70.9 cm (27 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1947.507
Public Domain
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Location
109 Gothic Painting and Sculpture
Print

Description

These medallions, which have loops on the backs, must have originally been sewn onto a garment or, more likely, a woman’s headpiece. In spite of the modern chain to which they are now attached, the medallions are unique items of feminine apparel from around 1400. Such items would have been well known at the courts of the Valois in Paris, Bourges, and Dijon. The central medallion with a “white lady” is enameled “in the round”––a new Parisian technique for enameling irregular or three-dimensional surfaces. Such white lady medallions are described in inventories of the period
Twelve, circular medallions connected into a necklace by parallel gold chains extending across the top and bottom of each medallion, interspersed with small pearls. In the central medallion, a white enamel woman sits on a gold-petaled flower. Each medallion has a band of gold leaves and pearls encircling it. The remaining medallions feature flowers made from green, purple, pink, and blue precious stones. The medallion over the clasp is squared and slightly larger.

Twelve Medallions Mounted as a Necklace

c. 1400

France, Paris

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